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‘‘ Something for Peter, something for Paul ; but nothing 
FOR the rats at ALL.” — Page 23 . 



Under the Stable Floor. 


S Christmas Storg. 


/ 

BY y 

M. CARRIE HYDE, 

AUTHOR OF “GOOSTIE” AND “ YAN AND NOCHIE 
OF TAPPAN SEA.” 


iUL 12 1895 




•BOSTON: 

ROBERTS BROTHERS. 
1895. 


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Copyright, 1895, 

By Roberts Brothers. 




2Enibersttg ^ircss: 

John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U. S. A. 


TO 


CARLTON NOYES HYDE. 






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UNDER THE STABLE FLOOR. 


I. 

U'NDER the stable floor of River- 
mouth Range there was a hollow, 
as large round as a big tub and three 
times as deep. It was a choice part of 
the inheritance of the Heir of Ratcliff. 

Now, the Heir of Ratcliff was not a 
charming young man like the hero of 
Miss Yonge’s famous book, but a large 
gray rat, known in his region as “ The 
Squire,” or “ Squire Ratcliff,” whose an- 
cestors had bequeathed him this rat-resi- 
dence under the stable, and the rat-ways 
and by-ways extending from it “ in any 
direction whatsoever ” for half a mile. 
This meant access, disputed by no other 


8 


Under the Stable Floor. 


rat, to splendid sources of supplies, like 
vegetable gardens, cellars, cornbins, and 
even a cheese-press, so that he was con- 
sidered one of the wealthiest as well as one 
of the most crotchety rats of his time. 
Mrs. Rat and the three little Rats held 
their heads very stiff and straight when- 
ever they walked out together, and twenty- 
five of the brightest little mice to be found 
in a week’s travel were their most devoted 
and abject slaves. 

The tub-like space under the stable 
floor, to return to it, was quite a splendid 
affair. The floor was as hard as adamant; 
the walls were stuccoed with bits of col- 
ored glass and red and green Easter-egg 
shells, while the ceiling, which was the 
under side of the stable floor above, was 
brushed and dusted so clean every day 
that not a spider-web nor a hay-seed was 
left clinging to it. This fine underground 
residence was lighted at night by a chan- 


Under the Stable Floor. 9 

delier of lightning-bugs, and four long 
passages leading into and out of it were 
brightly illuminated by glow-worm side- 
lights. 

At Rivermouth Range itself there were 
two dear little children living, — Blucher 
and Gertrude Egmont. They studied 
very hard with Miss Lynette, their govern- 
ess, till she went away for the Christmas 
holidays, and now they were working just 
as hard to get ready for Christmas. 

It was still two weeks before Christmas, 
when Squire Rat put just his nose and 
head through the rat-hole in the corner of 
the nursery, and heard Blucher say, “ Uncle 
George is so awfully good, is n’t he, Ger- 
tie He has given me five dollars more 
to buy things for the Christmas-tree and 
get presents with.” 

“ Yes, he is'' assented Gertie; “ he gave 
me five dollars too for the Christmas-tree, 
and I do wish I knew what to buy with it.” 


lO 


Under the Stable Floor. 


“ Why, candy apples and canes and 
trumpets, and clear candies and bonbons, 
and candlesticks and candles, and re- 
flectors and icicles, and pop-corn and 
gilded nuts, and angels and paper-flowers, 
and — ’’ 

“ I ’ll tell you what,” said Gertrude, 
“let’s write them down. You say them 
so fast it ’s like Niagara Falls or something, 
and maybe my money won’t be enough.” 

“ Oh, of course I ’m going to help buy 
them too,” said Blucher, taking the paper 
and pencil she handed him, and scribbling 
rapidly for a few moments. “ What do 
you think, Gertie } I ’ve written down 
twenty-five different things for the tree, 
and most of them are good to eat ! ” 

At this Squire Rat, listening closely, 
pricked up his ears, and pushed a little 
farther into the room. 

“ Did you put down candy-bags } ” asked 
Gertrude. 


Under the Stable Floor. 1 1 

“ No, nor chocolate boxes nor colored 
cocoanut balls. I was stupid ! ” 

“ Then we have to think of something 
nice for Bridget and Nancy. What would 
you give them } ” 

“ I don’t know,” answered Blucher, 
thoughtfully, twirling his pencil in the 
air. “ How would it do to give Bridget 
a dress, and Nancy an apron } ” 

“Yes; but they won’t look pretty on 
the tree,” objected Gertrude. 

“ That ’s so ; they won’t.” 

“ I could make a pin-cushion of red rib- 
bon for each, with all kinds of pins in, — 
they would be all right on the tree ; and 
then I have a silver key-ring and chain 
for papa, a napkin-holder for Uncle 
George, and a gold thimble for mamma. 
They ’ll all go on, and something for you ;” 
and Gertrude’s eyes snapped. 

Blucher laughed. 

“ I ’m not going to tell you yours, 


12 


Under the Stable Floor, 


either, but it ’s something red and yellow, 
and goes on the tree beautifully, and a 
cracker-jar for mamma, and an inkstand for 
papa, and a hat-marker for Uncle George, 
and then I 11 have to get something for 
Bridget and Nancy, and that ’s all.” 

“ And nothing for the rats at all,” fin- 
ished Gertrude, quoting from the old 
rhyme, — 

“ Something for Peter, something for Paul ; 

But nothing for the rats at all.” 

Squire Rat drew back his long sleek 
lips over his white, sharp teeth, and nod- 
ded his head as if he would have some- 
thing to say about this “ nothing for the 
rats at all ; ” and he was just about to 
leave the rat-hole, when he lifted his ears 
and thrust his long nose and keen ears 
once more through the hole again. 

“ Mamma says,” continued Gertrude, 
“ that we may have the tree in the bay- 
window in the library. She says she 11 


Under the Stable Floor, 13 

have a big linen drugget put down, so 
that if we wish to dance there, it will be 
all ready to play games on, or anything 
else we like.” 

“ All right ! ” exclaimed Blucher ; “ mam- 
ma ’s a daisy. ‘ Something for Peter, 
something for Paul; but nothing for the 
rats at all.’ ” And catching Gertrude’s 
hands, he whirled her about in a dozen 
giddy turns. 

“We’ll see, we’ll see,” said Squire Rat, 
so loudly that the children stopped to see 
where that queer squeaking sound came 
from ; but they only caught a glimpse of 
something like the tip end of a whip-lash 
disappearing through the hole in the 
corner. 

“ What was that } ” said Gertrude. 

“ The squeaky soles of my new shoes, I 
guess,” responded Blucher. 

“ No ! but that thing that jumped out of 
sight in the corner ? ” persisted Gertrude. 


14 Under the Stable Floor. 

“ A shadow, I s’pect, from the round of a 
chair,” answered Blucher; and he twisted 
her off into another merry twirl. 

Down from the nursery floor dropped 
Squire Rat, till he felt a floor-sill firmly 
under his feet. It was dark there, and he 
was sincerely wishing for one of his glow- 
worm lanterns that he had at home, when 
a little mouse brushed by him. 

“ Be careful, Tim. Is that you .? ” he 
asked quickly. 

“Please, sir, yes,” replied the little mouse, 
indistinctly, for his cheeks were filled out 
with some hickory-nut macaroons he had 
been pilfering from the pantry-shelf to 
carry home for the Squire’s and Mrs. Rat’s 
and the three little Rats’ supper. 

“Can’t you speak plainer.^ You ’re just 
in time to look about for me, and see 
which is the shortest route from, we ’ll say, 
our entrance to this cellar into the library 
bay-window.” 


Under the Stable Floor. 


15 


“Yes, sir, I understand,” said the mouse 
Tim, — short for Timid, — “but it seems 
to me the shortest cut is not to go through 
the cellar at all, but to tunnel from the 
outside through the stone foundation right 
into the window.” 

“ To do that we should have to dig from 
the old drain, underground, to the bay- 
window, shouldn’t we?” 

“ Yes, sir,” assented Tim, timidly. 

“Well! You are a genius, no doubt. 
Is n’t this winter, and is n’t the ground 
frozen so hard that there could n’t be 
made a hole deep enough to put a cat 
into ? ” 

“ Yes, sir,” assented again the trem- 
bling Tim. 

“ All right, then. Be practical. Put 
your macaroons down on this sill near me, 
and run over there and see if anything is 
left of the old short cut made to the 
library by my grandfather. If it is gone. 


i6 Under the Stable Fioor, 

— that is, filled up or built over by the 
repairs the Egmonts undertook last sum- 
mer, — come back and tell me.” 

“ Yes, sir,” said Tim, very glad to scurry 
away; while his master fell to eating the 
macaroons left by his side. 

In a little while Tim came back covered 
with cobwebs and dust. 

“ Glad you were thoughtful enough to 
have something on hand for me to eat 
while I waited,” said Squire Rat, rubbing 
from his whiskers the last crumb of maca- 
roon as Tim appeared. 

“ Yes, sir,” said Tim, with methodical 
politeness ; “ and there is none of the old 
route left, as I see. It seems to be filled 
in with plaster and a mixture that smells 
like poison. There ’ll have to be an en- 
tire new route made to the library.” 

“ Then we must make it, and that with- 
out loss of time,” said Squire Rat, tersely. 

“ Yes, sir,” responded Tim. 


Under the Stable Floor. 17 

“ By Christmas Eve, December twenty- 
fourth, I expect there will be completed 
an open way from the cellar to the library. 
This is the tenth. You have two weeks 
to do it in. Now I ’m going home. Those 
macaroons were very good. See that 
you get some more of them in time for 
supper.” 

“ But, Squire Rat — ” And Tim’s voice 
had a decided quaver in it. 

“ No buts, young man.” 

“ The cat is in the pantry now. I can’t 
get the macaroons while she is there,” 
Tim managed to say. 

“ Cat ? Bah ! Who is afraid of a cat ? 
You should n’t let the cat make the 
slightest difference.” 

At this instant a long “ me-ow” was 
heard. The rat trembled, and grew pale. 

“ Don’t be afraid, sir,” said the little 
mouse, holding on to Squire Rat, so that 
he could n’t tumble off of the sill on which 


Under the Stable Floor, 


he sat; “it’s nothing but the cat and the 
kitten looking in at us through the cellar 
grating. They can’t get at us.” 

“ Who said they could ? ” snapped 
Squire Rat ; “ but just go home with me, 
will you ? ” and he hung on to the paw of 
the little mouse like a vice, as he was 
gently piloted by him across the cellar to 
the old drain, through the old drain to the 
fine, large rat burrow which terminated 
in the neat corridor that brought them 
directly into the circular room of the 
Squire’s sumptuous home. 


II. 


A PA looks quite faint ! ” exclaimed 



Mrs. Rat, hurrying toward the Squire 
with a maple-leaf fan. 

“ Oh, never mind that Hopper ! ” said he, 
drawing back ; “ it ’s nothing but a little too 
much hickory-nut macaroon, and the sight 
of that obnoxious old Scratcher and her 
kitten. They do so go against the grain ! ” 

“ I don’t wonder, poor dear ! ” cried Mrs. 
Rat ; “ they have to be eaten very care- 
fully, — they are so rich, you know.” 

“ I am speaking of cats,” said Squire 
Rat, majestically. 

“ Oh, yes, certainly,” nodded Mrs. Rat, 
good-naturedly, and waving her fan now 
to quiet the three romping little Rats that 
rushed into the circular room playing 


20 


Under the Stable Floor, 


catch. “ Hush, children ; that is a very 
disturbing game to your father s nerves at 
this moment. Be still ! sit down ! ” 

“ But, mamma, we only want to catch 
Rathbun, because he says he ’s going to 
have a Christmas-tree and not give us 
even a limb.” 

“ Nor me, mamma,” said little Roda, 
“ and I gave him half my apple.” 

“Tree, — Christmas-tree!” repeated Mrs. 
Rat. “ Who ever heard of rats having a 
Christmas-tree ? ” 

“ Why, I have, or rather I ’m going to 
hear of such a thing 1 ” said Squire Rat, so 
unexpectedly and emphatically that Mrs. 
Rat jumped. 

“ You, papa, you 1” cried the three little 
Rats ; ‘‘ where will you get it } ” 

“ That ’s telling,” he said quite briskly, 
forgetting his faintness and wagging his 
head wisely. “ ‘ Where there ’s a will there ’s 
always a way ; ’ which reminds me. — Will, 


Under the Stable Floor, 


21 


Will ! ” and he shouted the name at the 
top of his lungs. 

“Yes, sir; here I am,” answered a bright- 
eyed little mouse, running down the cor- 
ridor from the servants’ wing of the 
house. 

“ You ’re good at digging and gnawing, 
are n’t you } ” 

“ First rate, sir.” 

“ Have you had your claws sharpened 
and your teeth filed lately } ” 

“ Last night, sir.” 

“ All right, then. I ’m going to have a 
new way dug from the cellar to the library 
bay-window at the Range. You may su- 
perintend one half the job, and Tim the 
other.” 

“Yes, sir. What force shall we put 
on ” 

“Twelve of the field-mice, in relays 
of six. It must be finished December 
twenty-fourth.” 


22 


Under the Stable Floor. 


“ Yes, sir.” 

“ And if it is done before that, you shall 
all have a piece of the bluest gorgonzola 
in my cheese-vault. Tim knows more 
about the work than I. — Here, Tim!” 

No Tim answered. He had stolen 
away when the Squire and Mrs. Rat were 
so deeply interested in their conversation. 

“Never mind; I’ll find him, sir,” said 
Will, scampering out of sight again in the 
servants’ corridor. 

“ Oh, papa, papa 1 ” cried the children ; 
“you are going to make something nice 
happen, are n’t you } ” 

“ Whatever are you about, having an- 
other route dug.f^” asked Mrs. Rat, testily. 

“ I ’m getting ready for a party,” replied 
Squire Rat. 

“ A party ! ” echoed the children, with 
high squeals of delight. 

“Yes! a great, big, glorious Christmas 
Rat-Party.” 


U 7 tder the Stable Floor, 23 

“ My patience, Squire Ratcliff ! ” ejacu- 
lated Mrs. Rat. 

“Yes; we haven't given one since my 
grandfather’s time. It is high time we 
should have one.’' 

“ But what has this new roadway to do 
with it ? ” continued Mrs. Rat. 

“ It is a way of my own,” responded the 
Squire. 

“ You always have your own way, for 
that matter ! ” retorted Mrs. Rat. “ May 
much good come of it ! ” 

“ So I say,” said Squire Rat, seizing her 
about the waist and turning her round 
and round in a sort of waltz, as he sang 
in most frightful tune, “ Something for 
Peter, something for Paul ; but nothing 
for the rats at all.” 

The little Rats began to cry. They did 
not like the sentiment of this jingle. 

“ I beg your pardon, my small fry,” said 
Squire Rat, reversing in the waltz to pre- 


24 Under the Stable Floor, 

vent Mrs. Rat from fainting with giddi- 
ness. “ I should have said, ‘ Something 
for Peter, something for Paul ; and some- 
thing for the little rats all.’ ” 

“ We-e-e ! that’s nicer,” said the little 
Rats, clapping their paws. 

“ But this is nicest,” cried Rathbun, the 
eldest : “ Nothmg for Peter, nothing for 
Paul ; and everything for the little rats so 
small.” 

“ Halloo, mamma! do you hear that? 
The child is a poet! Give him a sweet 
apple for his supper.” 

“I want it now,” said Rathbun. “ I ’m 
going to ask Will to give me two this 
moment ; ” and he scampered down the 
servants’ corridor toward the kitchen. 

“Rathbun, Rathbun,” called his mother, 
“ you can’t have it till supper-time.” 

Rathbun did not heed her. 

“Say, Will, Tim, where are you? I’m 
to have three sweet apples right away.” 


Under the Stable Floor. 25 

“All right, Master Rathbun ; will you 
come with me for them ? ” asked Tim, 
turning on the glow-worm lights. 

“No; bring them here to me. And 
mind, there are to be three for me, and 
not one for you.” 

“ All right. Master Rathbun,” said Tim, 
going into a dark place and rolling three 
apples out on to the floor. 

“ Pooh ! those are small ones ; let me 
see for myself ; ” and pushing past Tim, 
Rathbun jumped upon the apple pile, 
and began nibbling them right and 
left. 

“ Come out, please. Master Rathbun, 
come out,” cried Tim, in great fear that 
the child would ruin all the fruit there. 
“ I have to see if I can get any macaroons 
for supper, and it ’s nearly supper-time 
now.” 

“ No, I won’t come out,” said Rathbun, 
“ not till you tell me something.” 


26 


Under the Stable Floor. 


“What?” 

“ Why is papa going to have you make 
a new road to the Range library ? ” 

“ I don’t know; he did n’t tell me.” 

“ He did.” 

“ He did n’t, Master Rathbun.” 

“ Then I ’ll stay here all night and bite 
up every apple.” 

“You can’t,” said Tim. “You’ll have 
to come out and go to bed.” 

“ No, I won’t go to bed.” 

By this time Will joined them. 

“ I ’m ready, Tim, to go and see where 
the digging is to begin,” he said. “ Come 
on.” 

“ I can’t.” 

“ Why not?” 

“Master Rathbun is in the apple-bin, 
and won’t come out.” 

“Tell him the cat is coming; old 
Scratcher it is.” 

“ Boohoo ! boohoo ! ” cried Rathbun, as 


Under the Stable Floor. 


27 

he heard this dreadful assertion; “take 
me back to mamma.” 

“ Go yourself,” said Will, pushing him 
out into the corridor, and fastening down 
the cover of the apple-bin. 

“ I ’ll tell my papa,” retorted Rathbun. 

“ Do so,” said Will, “ and you won’t get 
me to build the way to a beautiful Christ- 
mas-tree.” 

“ Christmas-tree, — where ? ” demanded 
Rathbun, gulping down a big bite of 
apple. 

“ I know, I know,” answered Will. 

“ For whom ? ” 

“ I know, I know.” 

“ For Blucher and Gertrude } ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ And for whom beside ? ” 

“ Squire and Mrs. Rat and the little 
Rats.” 

“ Goody ! let me go with you now ? ” 

“ Go and ask your father,” was Will’s 
reply. 


28 Under the Stable Floor. 

Rathbun scurried down the corridor to 
the circular room. 

“Go, — go where?” asked Squire Rat, 
who was beginning to feel impatient for 
his supper. 

“ To dig a road to get a Christmas-tree 
for me and you and all of us.” 

“ Who told you, you little vagrant, about 
a Christmas-tree for anybody ? ” 

“ Will and Tim.” 

“ They know nothing about it. No ; you 
stay at home, go to bed, and keep out of 
the way of cats, traps, and poison.” 

Jasey, the second son, had been listen- 
ing intently to this conversation. He now 
stole along in the shadows against the 
side of the circular room, and sped down 
the servants’ corridor. 

“ Tim, Will,” he called, “ I ’m going with 
you. Wait ! ” 

“ You, Master Jasey? ” said Tim, in sur- 
prise. “ You ’re too small ! ” 


Under the Stable Floor. 29 

“No, I ’m not,” answered Jasey. “I guess 
I ’m bigger than you, and a Rat too ; ” and 
he rolled his r, and, making his hair 
stand out more than it did naturally, and 
it had been remarkably stick-outy always, 
he really looked quite like something to 
be afraid of. 

“ And you won’t mind the cat nor the 
kitten ” Tim asked, laughing. 

“ No, indeedy.” 

“ Nor the trap, nor poispn } ” 

“ Who ’s afraid of any of those things } ” 

“ All right, then, we ’ll take you ; but 
mind, you must n’t cry if you see a cat.” 

“No, I ’ll run away before ever it can 
catch me.” 

“Very well, don’t forget,” responded 
Tim ; and the party went on again, with 
Jasey added. 

Emerging from the tunnel that led 
from the stable, there was a distance of 
two yards much grown up with rank 


30 Ujider the Stable Floor. 

grass. The way lay upon the surface of 
the ground. 

“ There ! be careful here,” said Tim, 
“ and stoop flat to the ground if you hear 
anything coming. Now here we are at 
the old drain. That’s all right. You 
can go on now as comfortably as you 
please. It is very seldom anything dis- 
turbs us here.” 

Jasey did just as he was told. This 
was almost his first venture from home, 
and he tried to be very obedient. 

“ Ah ! here we are ! ” said Will, as they 
came out at the farther end of the old 
drain opening into the cellar a yard above 
the ground in the solid stone masonry. 
“ Jump with care, because sometimes there 
is a crabbed old trap that they set just 
below, — as if we would be so stupid as 
to jump into it or on to it.” 

“ Humans may be big, but they ’re aw- 
fully slow,” observed the young Jasey, so 


Under the Stable Floor. 31 

like his father that Tim and Will and the 
six little field-mice diggers laughed. “ I 
spect they think we can’t see in the 
dark." 

“ One of them — Blucher, I think it was 
— wrote us a letter once,” said Tim. “Your 
father allowed it was worth framing; for 
in big printed letters- — as if we could not 
read writing — it said, ‘Dear Rats:' Don’t 
come near our cellar any more, please. 
Yours sincerely, Blucher.’”^ 

“ I ’m just a little rat, but I would n’t be 
so stupid as that. One, two, three ; ” and 
with a very pretty leap Jasey landed nearly 
in the centre of the cellar. 

The little mice could not jump so far; 
so they slid down the wall or sprung 
sidewise to the ground, looking sharply 
around. 

“ It’s all right. Master Jasey; there’s no 

^ There is a superstition that to write rats a letter ask- 
ing them to stay away, keeps them off. 


32 Under the Stable Floor, 

one around. You can run about for your- 
self, while we start the diggers over here 
in this corner back of the ash-barrels ; ” 
and Tim and Will left young Jasey to fol- 
low his own devices while they broke the 
ground for the new route. 

In a few moments there was heard in the 
cellar a tremendous scratching and dig- 
ging through the cracks in the asphaltum 
back of the barrels, while Jasey ran about 
here and there on a grand exploration 
tour. Finally he came to a little room, 
walled off from the rest of the cellar, in 
which was a tank of clear bubbling water. 
Dishes of butter and high crocks of milk 
and cream were standing in the water. 

In a twinkling Jasey had sprung to the 
top of a cream-jar, wondering how he 
could get some of the delicious cream for 
himself. Should he dip his tail into it 
and draw it through his lips, filling his 
mouth with the tempting delicacy; or 


Under the Stable Floor. 33 

should he, leaning over, try to dip it out 
and feed it to himself with his paws ? 

All at once the question was answered 
for him by Nancy the maid. Coming 
in unexpectedly, to get the cream for 
supper, she gave Jasey such a terrible 
start that he pitched headlong into the 
cream. 

Nancy was humming to herself, and not 
thinking particularly about the cream ; so 
she picked up the jar and went with it 
to the cellar steps, when she saw in the 
cream, first the nose, then the whiskers, 
then the eyes, then the claws of a dreadful 
rat, as he tried to scramble out rather than 
smother in cream. 

“ Oh ! mercy ! mercy ! ” she cried, let- 
ting the whole thing drop from her hands 
and smash to pieces, while the cream and 
milk ran off in little white rivulets all 
over the cellar floor. “ Whativer have the 
saints sint us } Oh ! murder ! ” 


34 Under the Stable Floor. 

“ Nancy, whativer is the matter wid ye ? ” 
cried the cook, coming to the rescue. 
“ I should say it was an earthquake, from 
the soize of the noise.” 

“ Oh ! sure, Bridget, it was something 
quare in the cream, — a rat mebbe, — an’ 
I ’m not the one to be houlding any one’s 
cream wid a rat in it.” 

“Well, you ought ter, thin, an’ the rat 
in the bargain. Whichiver way did he 
go ? ” 

“How do I know.?” said Nancy, still 
trembling with fright. 

“ Old Scratcher has more sinse than 
all of us,” said Bridget ; “ here she comes 
with the kitten to drink up the cream, or 
mebbe it ’s a feast of rat she ’ll take 
wid it.” 

Scratcher, to be sure, smelled the cream, 
then walked all round the cellar, fright- 
ening the mice to a quick hiding in the 
ash-barrels; and poor inexperienced Jasey, 


Under the Stable Floor. 35 

all dripping with cream, into a stuffy, 
cobwebby little hole back of the kitchen 
stairs. 

She came back soon, however, with a 
disappointed look on her face as she 
joined her kitten in lapping up the 


cream. 


III. 



HE work upon the new rat route was 


very much retarded by all this. Tim 
and Will waited impatiently for the cat 
and her kitten to get through their cream- 
drinking and retire, so that they might go 
on with the digging and look up Jasey. 

“ I expect the little fellow is desper- 
ately scared, and ready to go home,” said 


Will. 


“ Yes, I ’ll go now and see ; old Scratcher, 
thank Fate, has had enough for once, and 
is calling off her kitten.” 

True enough ; Scratcher, gorged, called 
the smaller pussy to follow her to an old 
piece of carpet near the furnace, where she 
washed off its face and paws with a long 
contented purr. 


Under the Stable Floor. 37 

“ This is my time,” said Tim, springing 
to the edge of the ash-barrel and running 
down its side. “ I may be able to get 
some more macaroons if those old tortoise- 
shells keep away ; ” and he sped softly 
round the cellar close to the wall till he 
came to Jasey’s hiding-place under the 
cellar stairs. 

“Ha! Master Jasey,” he squeaked gen- 
tly, “ where are you ? Show up a wee 
bit.” 

Jasey put his scruffy head out of the 
hole, quite white with cream and plaster 
and fear. 

“ Oh, Tim,” he whispered, “ I did n’t 
mean to be, but I am, awfully frightened 
and uncomfortable.” 

“ I should think so,” said Tim, blinking 
up at him. “ Why, where on earth did you 
find that hole ? I believe it is, indeed it 
must be, the opening into that very old 
route your father wanted to find this after- 


38 Under the Stable Floor. 

noon. Dear! dear! we’re in luck. This 
will save a pile of digging ; ” and Tim ran 
up the wall to the hole. 

“It’s stifling, though. I can hardly 
breathe,” responded Jasey. “ Is n’t it safe 
enough for me to come out now ? ” 

“Yes, Master Jasey; only suppose you 
stay here till I go back and tell Will what 
we ’ve found, then I ’ll take you right 
through the old drain home ; ” and Tim, 
in a condition of considerable suppressed 
excitement, scurried back to the ash-bar- 
rel corner, where the busy mice were 
again at work digging, scratching, gnaw- 
ing under the stone-like asphaltum. 

“Will! good luck! You won’t need 
to do that any more. Master Jasey has 
found the opening to the old route we 
wanted.” 

“ How.^^ where.?” asked Will. 

“ Come quick ! I ’ll show you and the 
field-mice ; only keep your eyes open for 


Under the Stable Floor, 39 

the enemy ; ” and Tim led the way to the 
hole. 

“ To be sure, this is it,” said Will ; “ only 
it will need enlarging and clearing out. 
Here, my men, fall to work at once, else 
we shall miss our gorgonzola ! ” and the 
field-mice one after another sprung into 
the hole. 

“ What ’s to become of me ? ” asked 
Jasey, drawing farther and farther back 
into the stuffy hole. 

“Come with me. Master Jasey,” said 
Tim. “ I ’ll take you to the drain to wait 
there just a few moments, while I go and 
see if there are any more macaroons; then 
I ’ll take you home.” 

“Please do,” said Jasey; “ I don’t like 
this cellar very much.” 

Very cautiously Tim and his charge 
crossed the cellar, passed the cat and 
kitten snoozing near the furnace, and 
jumped into the drain. They were not 


40 Under the Stable Floor, 

an instant too soon; for Nancy and Bridget 
now came down the cellar stairs with 
bucket and cloths to clear up the rest of 
the spilled cream. 

“You will wait here for a few minutes 
while I try the macaroon business, Master 
Jasey,” directed Tim ; when, turning to go 
he found the cellar-end of the old drain 
closed by Bluchers plump, round face, as 
he cried : “ Oh, I say, Nancy ! Bridget ! 
I just believe those old rats get in through 
the drain. I ’m going to set the trap right 
in the drain, so they ’ll have to be caught 
if they ever go in or out again.” 

“ That ’s you. Master Blucher,” said 
Bridget. “ I was after telling Mr. Egmont 
long ago it ought to be closed; only he 
said it was good for a ventilator.” 

Blucher did not seem to be paying very 
close attention to Bridget’s remark, for he 
went on with his own line of thought. 

“ I can’t see them, but I just believe 


Under the Stable Floor. 41 

they ’re in there now, and I ’m going to 
get Gertie to watch this end while I load 
up the other end with old Scratcher; then 
if there is n’t a hallabaloo of a going-off 
of rats and mice, I ’ll lose my guess.” 

“But, Master Blucher,” demurred Nancy, 
“ what if the cat gets catched in the trap 
’stead of the rat ? ” 

“ That ’s so,” said Blucher, rubbing his 
head. “ Well, I tell you. I can take the 
trap out, and then have Gertie watch this 
end while I poke Scratcher in the other 
end to watch. You come watch this end, 
Nancy, while I go find Gertie.” 

“ Indeed, Master Blucher, I ’m that 
afraid,” said Nancy, going timidly forward. 

“ Why, the trap is here inside it, and 
there ’s a stick. I ’ll be back in a minute ; ” 
and Blucher ran away, leaving poor trem- 
bling Nancy to guard the drain. 

“ Are you afraid } ” whispered Jasey to 
Tim. 


42 Under the Stable Floor. 

“ Never of Nancy. She could n’f scare 
a polliwog. Just watch; I’ll be back 
soon.” And Tim ran back in the drain, 
made a running jump, cleared the trap, 
and, nearly grazing Nancy’s cheek, landed 
on the ground, dashed into the little hole 
that led to the pantry, and was there in 
the pantry before Nancy’s shriek of dis- 
may had died away. 

“Hush, Nancy, you crazy thing! you’ll 
have the mistress down here next, to see 
the dish you ’ve broke and the cream 
you ’ve wasted, an’ you going on like 
murther in a bar-room.” 

“ I can’t help it, indeed I can’t, Bridget ; 
wid things bouncing at me from the drain 
like they was gum-balls. You come watch, 
too, Bridgie.” 

“ Indade, and I won’t then. It’s enough 
I have to do a-sopping up a say of cream 
an’ milk, wid no one to help me. Here 
comes Master Blucher, thank goodness I ” 


Under the Stable Floor. 43 

“ Gertie won’t come,” he said ; “ she ’s 
afraid. But we ’ve got a nice new plan ; 
we ’re going to flush the drain and drown 
them out. Papa said I might. He said 
I was to close up the ends and turn on 
the water, and they ’d soon die.” 

“ Oh, Master Blucher, one did get out, 
— the spiteful thing! It tried to jump 
down my throat.” 

“Hal it had better not,” said Blucher; 
“ that would be worse for it than the drain.” 

“Yes, that it would,” assented Nancy, 
moving away from the drain with much 
satisfaction, as Blucher fitted a tin cover 
over the cellar end, while Coachman John 
at the same moment clapped a similar 
cover upon the end toward the stable. 

“ Ah, ha! we have them this time. Turn 
on the spigot, Gertie, will you } — the old 
faucet on the left, the one we don’t often 
turn.” 

“ I did,” called back Gertrude ; “ but I 


44 Under the Stable Floor, 

think it ’s awfully cruel drowning them. 
It ’s running dreadfully fast.” 

Poor Jasey had heard almost every 
word of this conversation ; and he began 
to shiver to his very toes, though he re- 
membered he could swim. 

“ Why did Tim leave me t ” he thought; 
“ why did I ever want to come, any way } 
Tim is so careless. He ’s not afraid of 
anything but father ; so he had to go and 
get those macaroons, while I am to be 
drowned to death. How dark it is ! ” 

The water in the drain was rising 
rapidly. Now it had reached to Jasey’s 
belly, now his back, now his ears, while 
he floated on it till he hit against the 
top of the big terra-cotta pipe. 

All at once there was a broad flash of 
light; the water that had gurgled and 
seethed about Jasey’s ears suddenly rushed 
forward in a splendid whirl that carried 
Jasey with it, and landed him safe and 


Under the Stable Floor. 45 

sound among the dank grass and weeds 
that grew at the mouth of the drain. Jasey, 
wisely crouching for fear of a new danger, 
opened his eyes to see what had happened. 
He discovered that the water in the drain 
had been strong enough to push the tin 
cover from John’s end of the drain; and 
now John was fastening it on again and 
more strongly, never dreaming the enemy 
had escaped and was none the worse for 
the attempt to drown him. The bath, in 
washing the plaster, cobwebs, and cream 
from his usually well-groomed coat, had 
done him a favor. 

There was a little laugh in the coarse 
grass near him. * 

Jasey turned to see who was daring to 
take such a liberty as to titter at Squire 
Rat of Ratcliff’s son. 

An old brown frog sat under a plan- 
tain leaf near by ; but he only blinked and 
blinked, as if he were thinking of nothing 


46 Under the Stable Floor. 

more trivial than the Tariff Reform 
Bill. 

“ It’s I, Master Jasey,” said Tim; “and 
I ’m not laughing at you, but those dull 
humans again. If I had known they 
were going to flush the drain that way, I 
would have hurried you out of it, but it ’s 
a thing that has n’t happened for years 
before.” 

“ I fancy it won’t do it any harm if it 
has washed it as well as it did me,” said 
Jasey, in quite an off-hand manner, now 
that the great danger was over and Tim 
was back. “ How did you get here ? ” 

“ I came round through the alley as 
soon as I found what they were about at 
the drain. It’s a very nice, safe way, if 
Mr. Boggs’s terrier is n’t hanging about. 
Hush ! do you hear that barking .? — that ’s 
he ; I do believe Blucher has been to bor- 
row him. We must hurry on.” And Tim 
gathered up the four macaroons he had 


Under the Stable Floor. 


47 


taken safely from the pantry, and led the 
way under the grass tufts to the opening 
into the stable route to Ratcliff. 

No sooner did they enter this tunnel 
than they noticed all the glow-worms 
turned on, and little mice running here 
and there, as if looking for something 
lost. 

“ What ’s wrong .? ” said Tim ; “ you are 
not looking for Master Jasey, are you } 
He ’s right here.” 

“ Yes, here I am,” said Jasey. “ Run and 
tell father we 're bringing the macaroons, 
and that I found the old route to the 
library he wanted.” 

“Jasey, you young rascal!” called out 
Squire Rat. “What have you been fright- 
ening us this way for 1 Did n’t I send you 
to bed a couple of hours ago .? ” 

“ No, father, indeed you did n’t ; it was 
most likely Rathbun, for getting three 
apples and not giving me one.” 


48 Under the Stable Floor. 

“ Nothing of the kind, Jasey;” and the 
Squire led him down the corridor to his 
mother. “ Here, Mrs. Rat, is the cure for 
your headache. He ’s been gallivanting 
off with the servants.” 

“ But, mamma,” said Jasey, very hum- 
bly, “ I was nearly drownded to death in 
the cream, then afterward in the drain ; 
and I found the old way father wanted 
to the library, did n’t I, Tim ” 

“ Yes, sir, he did,” said Tim, emphati- 
cally, “and a great help it will be; and 
where shall I put these macaroons, sir.^ 
They were all gone but these four. I 
believe the cat had been eating them her^ 
self, sir, or the children.” 

“ The children, to be sure,” sniffed Mrs. 
Rat, taking her handkerchief from her 
face and deigning to nibble one. “ I 
never knew anything like the children of 
to-day, — always doing something, always 
doing something!” 


Under the Stable Floor. 49 

“ Well ! I ’ll try not to any more,” said 
Jasey, “ if you ’ll only give me just one 
macaroon.” 

“ An’ me, an’ me ! ” sung out the other 
little Rats. 

“No, not one, nor a part of one; you 
would see your great-grandmother, at this 
time of night. Go back to your cheese- 
rinds, and then straight to bed ! ” and Mrs. 
Rat settled back in her chair decisively. 

“ One would think it was nothing 
to tumble into the cream and near be 
drownded in water, and to find that old 
route father wanted,” mumbled Jasey. 

“Not another word I ” said Squire Rat. 
“ Here, Tim, see the young gentlemen to 
bed ; then come back and tell me what 
all this is about, — the finding of the old 
route.” 

Fortunately Jasey was too tired to 
demur much longer. Only once he 
stopped on his way to the nursery to call 
4 


50 Under the Stable Floor, 

out, “ Say, father, I saw old Scratcher and 
the kitten, too, and I was n’t a bit afraid ; ” 
then he returned to the nibbling of his 
cheese-rind with hungry ardor. 

“ How that child does take after me ! ” 
said Squire Rat, crossing his knees and 
bringing the tips of his paws together, as 
he lounged back in his easy-chair. “ When 
I was his age, I think I would have had 
a stand-up fight with any cat ; and as for 
tumbling into cream once, why, I think I 
did it a dozen times.” 

“ How much you have changed since 
then ! ” said Mrs. Rat, languidly. 

“ I } Oh, no ! I ’m the same Sir Rat 
when it comes to cats and cream. He ’s a 
clever little fellow, too, to hunt out that old 
route. I set Tim to looking for it for a 
long time this afternoon, and he said it 
was n’t there.” 

“You must always make allowances,” 
observed Mrs. Rat, sagely; “and Jasey as 


Under the Stable Floor, 51 

well as Roda and Rathbun are far above 
the average, — so like my family.” 

Squire Rat was about to reply, when 
Tim returned from the nursery and pa- 
tiently waited for permission to speak. 


IV. 



OW, Tim, I will have your version of 


the story of the finding of the old 
route,” said Squire Rat, affably. 

“ Yes, sir,” answered Tim. “ Master J asey 
was looking for a quick hiding-place, and 
he found it in a hole way under the cellar 
stairs; then, when Will and I came to see 
it, we found it was what you were want- 
ing, sir, — the old route to the library. 
I left him digging it out, for it ’s badly 
out of repair, like most abandoned roads ; 
and please, sir, I would like to hurry back 
with six fresh field-mice to relieve the 
others.” 

“Yes, yes,” said Squire Rat; “but the 
question is whether it is going to be the 
best route, after all. You will have to 


Under the Stable Floor. 53 

widen it, and avoid all the corners that you 
can, because suppose, for instance, you 
are carrying a candy cane, how would 
that go round a low sharp corner? ” 

“ Oh, we ’re sure to fix it all right, with 
Will to boss it,” replied Tim. 

“ All right ! go ahead, if you think so. 
But mind ! no failure ; it will cost you your 
place.” 

“ We ’ll do our best,” said little Tim, 
never faltering, though he thought of Mrs. 
Tim and a pair of little Tims at home, all 
dependent for their daily crust on his 
keeping his place. The little extra of 
gorgonzola, too, if they came out ahead 
of time, would be so nice; he could divide 
it into three Christmas presents, — one 
for Mrs. Tim, the other two for the little 
Tims. “ May I go, sir ? ” he asked. 

“ Yes, off with you, and report your 
progress the first thing in the morning,” 
said the Squire. 


54 Under the Stable Floor. 

Tim scampered away, as if escaping 
from prison. Down the servants’ corridor 
he went; then to the left through the tun- 
nel, till emerging he felt his way through 
the grass to the mouth of the drain. The 
tin cover had been taken away ; but 
directly in front of the opening was tied 
Mr. Boggs’s terrier, snarling and snap- 
ping, and cross enough at finding himself 
chained, yet keeping his weather-eye on 
the drain, as if he knew why he had 
been put there. 

“ Dear, dear! ” said Tim, “ I don’t mind 
a clumsy dog like that tied to this end of 
the drain, — one can easily skip past him ; 
but if the tin is still up at the other end, 
it would be awkward. I will go round by 
the alley, even if it does take longer.” So 
he turned about, crept under the fence 
into the alley, ran to the front of the 
Range by going up the side street, and, 
darting under the front porch, was soon in 


Under the Stable Floor 55 

the cellar through a hole in the cellar 
grating. 

“ Upon my word,” cried Will, coming 
to meet him, “ we thought you were never 
coming ! There have been great goings- 
on since you were here. When they 
flushed the drain, you know, it flowed over 
into the cellar; then Mr. Egmont came 
down and ransacked the cellar for rat- 
holes ; and when he found where we 
were digging this afternoon, he was mad 
enough to poison every rat in the land. 
If we had n’t been hiding in Master Jasey’s 
hole, I think we should all have been 
caught, for they brought in Mr. Boggs’s 
terrier too. But we just laughed. No- 
body thought of that poor little hole 
under the stairs ; and there we could work, 
and hear all that was going on too. Now 
there ’s a stone fallen in the way, but I 
think you can engineer it out of the way. 
After that, all the rest is plain sailing;” 


56 Under the Stable Floor, 

and Will drew himself up, in the longest 
speech he had ever made in his life, to 
catch a breath. 

How’s the drain, — this end of it, I 
mean ? ” asked Tim. “ It ’s a dreadful nui- 
sance having to come ’way round so.” 

The tin cover did n’t work well, so 
they set the trap up in it. That only 
means a little extra watching-out for us. 
Here we are ; ” and the two little mice, 
who had chattered as they hurried to the 
hole under the stairs, ran up the wall and 
disappeared in it. 

Already the work the little mice had 
put into it was beginning to tell. They 
had scratched away much of the old fallen 
plaster, and had widened it on the right 
side till three mice could easily walk 
abreast. On the left it had considerably 
fallen in, and on this side too lay a big stone 
that had tumbled down from some place 
in the cellar wall. 


Under the Stable Floor. 


57 


Tim looked at it sagely, with his sharp 
little eyes very much on one side; next he 
nibbled upon one corner of it, to satisfy 
himself that it was too hard to reduce in 
this way ; then he shook his head. 

“It’s a hard job, isn’t it, Tim?” Will 
said, watching him, with a deep wrinkle 
between his bead-like eyes. 

‘^Yes; but if we could push, all push, 
we might get it out of the way,” Tim 
suggested. 

Will shook his head. “ We ’ve tried it, 
and we might as well have tried to move 
the furnace.” 

“ I know,” exclaimed Will ; “ we might 
try to crowbar it away. There’s a bar of 
the cellar grating loose; let ’s get that.” 

“ But it ’s so heavy,” objected Will. 

“ Bah ! we can all push and pull, if it 
is n’t a matter of forty pounds. Come on ! ” 
and jumping down, Tim led the way to 
the broken grating where he had come in. 


58 Under the Stable Floor. 

The bar was rather weighty, after all. 
It was a part of a delicate pattern, but it 
really weighed as much as Bridget’s poker, 
and was one half as heavy and large. 

“ There will be no Christmas gorgonzola 
for us if we don’t get on faster than this,” 
said Tim, quite discouraged when he found 
they could not push or roll the bar but 
a few inches. 

“ Over in that corner did you say you 
fancied there w^as something like ratSj 
papa ? ” they suddenly heard Blucher ask 
his father, who was coming toward them 
with a flickering candle. 

“ Run, run to the stair-hole,” whispered 
one little mouse to the other. 

Both Blucher and his father saw them, 
as they made one more search for “ the 
rats.” Blucher picked up the bar, and gave 
such quick chase that the little mice had 
barely time to jump into the hole out of 
sight. 


Under the Stable Floor, 59 

“ Which way did they go, Blucher ? ” 
asked Mr. Egmont. 

“ Somewhere in here under the stairs. 
Oh ! here ’s a hole. I guess this is the 
place ; ” and he rammed the bar in so far 
after the trembling little rodents that he 
knocked the stone out of the way and off 
one side, where it fell with a dull thud. 

“Wait, Blucher! Be careful; you’re 
knocking down the house. This will 
do for this time. I must see about 
some mouse-traps to-morrow. Where ’s 
Scratcher ? We ’ll shut her into the cel- 
lar to-night.” 

“ Me-ow,” said Scratcher ; then there 
was the creaking of Mr. Egmont and 
Blucher up the stairs, and the mice knew 
they were safe for the night. 

The mice laughed in high glee ; the re- 
moval of the stone had been accomplished, 
and they could go on with their work 
rapidly and in safety, even were the cellar 
filled with Scratchers. 


6o 


Under the Stable Floor, 


“ We must watch out for those traps, 
though, that Mr. Egmont spoke of,’* said 
Will. “ They are nice little round or squar- 
ish things, baited with cheese, and as inno- 
cent in appearance as an empty blacking- 
box; but just catch your head or your foot 
in one, and you are laid up high and dry 
forever.” 

Until twelve o’clock the mice dug and 
gnawed and cleared the way in the» old 
route ; then they began to feel very 
hungry. 

“ What shall we do for something to 
eat ? ” said one of them. 

Tim went to the opening under the 
stairs, and peered cautiously out. He 
could just see old Scratcher curled on the 
carpet near the furnace and a corner of the 
potato-bin. 

“ I can get some raw potato for you,” 
he said ; “ but everything else, even the 
cream crocks,” and he laughed as he men- 
tioned it, “ are under cover.” 


Under the Stable Floor. 


6i 


“ Raw potatoes are starvation diet,” said 
Will ; “ let me out, and I will steal up to 
the kitchen and see if Bridget has not left 
something out on the table ; ” and spring- 
ing down, he ran directly past the sleeping 
Scratcher to a little hole that led up to 
and out of the wall back of the big kitchen 
table. 

Everything was covered or put away in 
the kitchen. Not a crumb of bread was 
left on the floor, nor a mouthful of meat 
for even one hungry mouse. 

“ Oh ! I see it ’s to be a regular boycott 
against us till they forget about Master 
Jasey in the cream; then they’ll leave 
plenty uncovered and scattered about for 
We, Us, & Co. ; ” and Will turned to the 
pantry. 

Here at first seemed no luck at all. 
The cracker-box was closed tightly; the 
fruit-cake tin was under padlock and key. 
Will was almost desperate enough to 


62 


Under the Stable Floor. 


gnaw a hole in a gravy splash upon the 
table-cloth, when he espied a piece of 
mince-pie laid carefully back of a vege- 
table dish. “ Well, I never ! ” he exclaimed 
to himself. “ Blucher put that there for 
a sly lunch before he went to bed, I just 
believe, or perhaps Bridget ; then it was 
forgotten. Even the Squire would walk 
a rod for anything so nice as this;” and 
taking it by one corner, he dragged it 
to the edge of the shelf and pushed it off 
on the floor. 

There was a sort of scurry and hiss. It 
was the kitten, who had been set to 
guard the pantry and dining-room from 
small invaders while her mother did duty 
in the cellar. She had caught a glimpse 
of Will, and heard the pie drop to the 
floor. Her back went up like a taut bow, 
and she hissed like a steam-tug. More 
than this she was afraid to do with her 
mother away; so she backed to the dining- 
room door and hissed again and again. 


Under the Stable Floor, 63 

“ Is that all you can do ? said Will, 
coming out from a china bowl into which 
he had jumped when he heard the kitten. 
“ I can do as much as that myself ; ” and 
springing to the floor beside the pie, he 
dragged it as fast as he could into the 
kitchen and to the hole back of the table. 

The kitten looked after him through the 
crack in the door; then, concluding her 
duty done, went and curled up on the 
cushion in Mrs. Egmont’s chair. Will 
broke the pie into pieces the size of a 
marble, and dropped them down the hole to 
the cellar ; then he collected some of them 
like mince-pie minced, and carried them 
across the cellar to the little mice-diggers. 

“ We 're in luck again ! ” he whispered. 
“ There ’s as much more." 

“ I ’ll go this time for it," said Tim ; 
“ it ’s the kitchen hole, is n’t it and he 
scampered away like a breeze. 

“ You did mince the matter, did n’t you. 


64 Under the Stable Floor, 

Will ? ’’ he cried, coming back. “ It ’s all in 
a crumble, and there is still some left , but 
old Scratcher is stirring, so we ’ll make the 
most of this.” 

The mince-pie lunch proved very reviv- 
ing. The full force of mice, under Tim’s 
and Will’s direction, were soon hard at work 
again, till by morning they had cleared 
the length of two yards in the old route. 

“ Very good, very good,” repeated Squire 
Rat, when he heard Tim’s report at break- 
fast ; “ keep right on this way, and you are 
sure of your gorgonzola.” 

The clearing out and enlarging of the 
old route went on very smoothly after 
this, and in one week’s time was finished ; 
but the more difficult part still waited to 
be done. It was the gnawing through or 
around the new hard-wood joists that had 
been put in when Mr. Egmont had renewed 
the Range. Even this was accomplished in 
two days more, for Tim invited Mrs. Tim 


Under the Stable Floor. 


65 


and the little Tims to help in the gnawing 
with their sharp teeth ; then he and some 
of the field-mice rested their tired jaws 
for a short while. 

“ Now we have got to this question,” 
said Will, “as to whether it is better to 
carry our route straight up and through 
the floor, coming out in a corner of the 
bay-window, or to run it up against the 
masonry again, and bring it out above 
the mop-boards. Sometimes the holes 
show less if made just above the mop- 
boards.” 

“ We can’t come out in a corner of the 
bay-window, as you suggest,” said Tim, 
“ because the bay-window is rounding, and 
there is no corner ; the wood is light, too, 
and would show a hole at once. Let me 
jump to the window-seat as soon as they 
push back the shutters, and see what kind 
of a wall there is.” 

Wall ” said Will, rather stupidly. 


5 


66 


Under the Stable Floor. 


“Yes, whether it is light or dark. A 
good deal depends on that.” 

Will rubbed his head. He did not quite 
see this, but he tried to patiently wait till 
Nancy pushed back the shutters. 

Presently she came and folded back the 
inside shutters, drew up the shades, and 
even opened the window a few inches, so 
that a breath of the fresh morning air 
could enter the room. 

It was a handsome room. Bookcases, 
brimming full, lined three sides of the 
room. The fourth, which was the big bay- 
window side, was papered in a heavy gilt 
paper, covered with deep crimson roses. 

In the centre of the big bay-window 
there was already placed the Christmas- 
tree stand, carpeted with moss in which 
were looking-glass ponds with tiny swans 
and ducks swimming on them. 

In one swift instant Tim had crept 
outdoors, sprung to the window-seat, and, 


Under the Stable Floor. 67 

peering in, taken note of every detail in 
the room; then, jumping down, he scurried 
through the new route opening they had 
gnawed to out-doors, and made his report. 

“ It ’s all light-wood bookcases and every- 
thing. We had better make our entrance 
just above us here on the left, fifteen inches 
from the floor. That will bring us above the 
mop-board right into the dark heart of one 
of those crimson roses. You see, a hole 
in one of those won’t show.” 

“ All right,” acquiesced Will, “go ahead, 
my lads ; you hear what we are to do.” 

“ Yes, that we do,” said the little field- 
mice diggers, going vigorously to work 
again. 

It was well they did ; for it took them all 
of that day and the next to cut roughly 
through the new door, and after that came 
Christmas Eve. 

The morning of Christmas Eve they 
had the place very much to themselves. 


68 Under the Stable Floor. 

Nancy and Bridget tacked down the big 
linen drugget that was to make dancing 
easier when the children had their party, 
and Coachman John came in and set a very 
handsome Christmas-tree for the children. 
Then, after the room had been dusted and 
put into perfect order, the shutters were 
closed, and it was abandoned until afternoon. 

“ I wonder where Blucher and Gertrude 
are?” said Tim, putting his head through 
the first break that was made in the heart 
of the wall-paper rose. 

“ Gone out to buy the trimmings for the 
tree, most likely,” answered Will ; “ and 
we ’ve nothing to do but hurry ahead and 
finish our work.” 

“ That ’s so,” said Tim, trimming off the 
torn edges of wall-paper about the rose 
heart till it looked as smooth and even as 
if cut with scissors. 

“ Dear ! we Ve getting the plastering in 
the room ; that will never do,” said Will ; 


Under the Stable Floor. 69 

and he swung down on the floor, making 
such a breeze that he swept most of it away. 
A little yet remained, which he brushed at 
again and again, till the last particle was 
dusted out of sight, and the room looked 
as orderly as when Nancy left it. 

Just here inside of the hole was heard 
very hard breathing, and an attempt of 
something to push its way through the 
new hole. 

Tim looked at Will, and Will looked at 
Tim. For one silly moment they thought 
it might be the chicken-hearted kitten ; 
then they each laughed, for they saw it was 
Squire Rat come to inspect their work. 

“ Very good,” he managed to say, brush- 
ing some plaster from his whiskers and 
mouth, “ but you would better deserve your 
gorgonzola if you make the hole larger at 
this end. Widen it two inches each side, 
so that you can easily get the candy-bags 
and bonbons through. I ’ll try to look in 


70 Under the Stable Floor, 

again this afternoon ; ” and he turned cum- 
bersomely and left them. 

The little mice set diligently to work 
again. They were still scraping and dig- 
ging to enlarge the upper end of their route, 
when the children came in after a late 
lunch, and, pushing back the shutters, be- 
gan to trim their tree. 

Package after package of Christmas- 
tree trimmings was untied, and two spools 
of wire cut in six-inch pieces to wire the 
holiday foliage to the tree. Sheep and 
cows were put to pasture in the moss 
under the tree; quaint little Japanese birds 
were made to roost in flocks upon the 
branches ; artificial snow, and ice and frost 
of spun sugar were spread over the tree ; 
a queer conglomerate of colored icicles, 
paper roses, reflectors, stars, angels and 
cherubim, were wired here and there on 
the tips of the limbs; and at last the 
children’s busy fingers came to threading 
the popcorn for festoons. 


Under the Stable Floor, 71 

Until now they had been too engrossed 
in their own concerns to know there was 
a steady nibbling and gnawing going on 
in the wall so near them ; but stringing 
corn was not so absorbing, and now Ger- 
trude started and said, “ What was that ? ” 

“ What ? ” asked Blucher. 

“ Oh ! I don’t know exactly, — a queer 
scratching noise in the walls ; and, my 
patience ! I do believe I saw a little 
mouse staring right out of the wall at 
me. Look, Blucher ! ” 

“Nonsense!” laughed Blucher; “as if 
our walls were like the parrot-house walls 
at the Zoo, — all full of rats looking out 
of their holes in the wall at you, as if they 
wanted you to give them peanuts too.” 

“ I did n’t say rats, Blucher, but mice, 
the real little mice. “ I s’pose they like 
popcorn.” 

“ I s’pose they do,” responded Blucher, 
holding up his gay string of red and yel- 


72 Under the Stable Floor, 

low and white popcorn for his sister to 
admire. 

The mice grew more cautious after this. 
They drew back their heads from the hole, 
and muffled their scratching and digging 
as much as they could. Indeed, three of 
the little mice sat with their backs against 
the hole, so that the sound should not go 
out, — stopping it up, as it were. 

“ Is n’t it a pretty tree } ” they heard the 
children ask Nancy, when a couple of 
hours later she came to call them to their 
afternoon tea. 

“ Yes, that it is! ” she answered sincerely. 
“ I never saw none finer in my life; there 
is such a heap on it too.” 

“ Come on, Nancy, dance round it just 
once before we go,” the children said, 
catching her hands; and soon the room 
was filled with, “ Something for Peter, 
something for Paul ; but nothing for the 
rats at all.” 


Under the Stable Floor, 73 

“ Drat the rats ! ” cried Nancy, “ and the 
mice, too, with their nasty, thieving ways ! ” 
and then the door slammed, and the merry 
go-round was over, for the children had 
gone out to their tea. 

“ How now ? ’’ a gruff voice asked in 
the new rat-hole. It was Squire Rat’s. 

“ Better, sir ! ” answered Will. “ You can 
see for yourself how much wider we have 
made it ; indeed, it will be done in an hour 
or two.” 

“ Very well ; you Ve put good work into 
it, as I could see all the way along. That 
was those children singing the everlast- 
ing ‘ Something for Peter, something for 
Paul,’ was n’t it ? ” laughed the Squire ; 
“ we ’re almost ready now to explode that 
idea down at Ratcliff, — the idea of ‘ Noth- 
ing for rats at all.’ ” 

“Indeed, sir!” said Will, trying to ap- 
pear properly surprised. 

“ Yes, the tree is up. It was brought in 


74 Under the Stable Floor, 

branch by branch, — an idea of mine, — then 
tied together. I left them packing stones 
about its base to keep it standing firmly. 
As soon as you are through here, come 
home.” And he turned to go. 

“ Yes, sir ! ” replied Will, just as Squire 
Rat sprang back from the opening in the 
heart of the rose. 

“ I — I think,” he said, all a tremble, “ that 
that was old Scratcher feeling my spine. 
Why did n’t you tell me, you rascals, I was 
so near the opening ? ” 

“ Me-ow,” went old Scratcher ; for she 
had indeed prowled into the library, smelled 
out the new mouse-hole, and tried to get 
her paw into the hole. 

“ We did n’t know it, we truly did not,” 
asserted Tim, in a great fright ; while Will 
coughed to cover a nervous impulse to 
laugh. 

“ Not a bit of Christmas gorgonzola for 
one of you ! ” roared the Squire. “ See that 


Under the Stable Floor, 75 

you are through here in an hour, and come 
home to help us.” 

The little mice looked hard at each 
other, as their angry master stalked away. 

“ I never care much for gorgonzola, 
anyway,” said one of the little field-mice, 
who had never in his life seen a crumb. 

“Don’t you ” said Will; “then you 
don’t know what it is,” and he turned about 
to order the finishing touches on their 
work. “ Mac, rub down that piece of sharp 
plaster. Tip, see if you can’t gnaw this off 
a little smoother on this side ; there, that 
will do.” 

By seven o’clock this evening the new 
rat and mouse route to the library was 
pronounced completed. There was not 
the same joy in its completion that there 
would have been had it been followed by 
the gorgonzola treat; but the little mice 
determined to go on and do their best, 
hoping that in the end some kind of a re- 
ward might come to them. 


76 Under the Stable Floor, 

“ I 'm glad the drain is all right again,” 
said Tim to Will. “ I fancied that one 
night of Mr. Boggs’s terrier’s yelping be- 
cause he was chained, would finish the 
guarding of that end of the drain ; and as 
for the other, the trap has sprung of its 
own accord, and no one has been to find it 
out, they are all so busy with Christmas.” 

“ Humans are great people at forgetting 
or neglecting things,” said Will, senten- 
tiously. 

“ It ’s all the better for us,” responded 
Tim, hurrying through the drain, through 
the tough grass at its mouth, through the 
stable tunnel, to the servants’ corridor, to 
the circular room. Will and the field-mice 
closely following. 

They had forgotten to turn on the glow- 
worms in the corridor, but the circular 
room was all ablaze from the lightning- 
bug chandelier and the smaller lights 
high overhead. 


Under the Stable Floor. 77 

“ Oh, here you are at last, Tim, Will ! 
Have those field-mice trundle in a few more 
white stones from the gravel on the paths 
outside, while you come and see what 
makes the tree so crooked on this side,” 
said Squire Rat, authoritatively. 

The field-mice skipped away to do the 
Squire’s bidding, while Tim and Will 
squinted wisely at the tree. 

“ It ’s too heavy on this side, sir,” they 
both said at once. “We can balance it 
by tying another branch to that side.” 

“ Very well, do it Don’t stand there 
looking at it,” said the Squire, sharply. 

In a few moments it was done ; and the 
field-mice, coming in with the extra stones, 
made it stand so firm and straight that the 
little Rats clapped their paws, and Mrs. 
Rat exclaimed, “ It does look so interest- 
ing that I shall enjoy trimming it.” 

“ So shall I,” said Squire Rat, quite 
amicably. 


78 


Under the Stable Floor. 


“ And I, and I, and I/' cried the little 
Rats. 

“No not one of you,” said their father; 
“ it s time for you to have your suppers, 
then off to bed.” 

For a wonder the children did not cry 
nor object. They seemed to feel that it 
was necessary to do just as they were told 
on a night so wonderful as Christmas Eve, 
and they followed the nurse with a merry 
“ Good-night.” 

“ Dear me ! it quite worries me to have 
the children so good,” commented Mrs. 
Rat; “ something is going to happen, I fear.” 

“Nothing at all, Mrs. Rat,” said the 
Squire. “Here are a few peanuts; you 
and Will may have them, Tim.” 

It was eleven o’clock when it was de- 
cided best for the mice to set out on their 
Christmas-tree untrimming expedition. 

“ Don’t keep us waiting long,” sung out 
the Squire after them, his good-humor 


Under the Stable Floor. 


79 

much restored by the successful setting of 
the tree. 

The library was as dark as a dungeon, 
when the twelve field-mice, with Tim and 
Will as directors, crept into it to begin the 
stripping of the tree. There was at first a 
bit of reconnoitring to see if Scratcher was 
about or a sly trap put in their way ; but 
the moment Will called, “ All serene,” they 
sped up the trunk like so many crickets, 
and unwired bonbons, flowers, birds, clear 
candies, candy apples, balls, filigrees, angels, 
and a dozen other things. The candle- 
holders and candles they unfastened from 
the tips of the limbs, took down the pop- 
corn festoons very carefully, as well as the 
ice icicles and frost, gathered the pretty 
veil of spun glass from the top, and the 
tree was dismantled completely. 

Will and Tim had but once during the 
operation exchanged a word ; it was when 
Will had come upon a gold ring with 


8o 


Under the Stable Floor. 


a red stone in it marked “To Gertie from 
Papa,” and when Tim had found a beauti- 
ful little gold watch swinging from one 
of the branches labelled “ From Papa 
Blucher.” 

“ Won’t the Squire be pleased with 
these? ’’.they had said, putting them care- 
fully one side to carry to Ratcliff them- 
selves. 

“ It ’s just twelve, lads, this little time- 
piece tells us,” announced Tim, taking it 
up to put carefully away ; “ we have done 
the work in one hour. It took the children 
most of the afternoon and a part of the 
evening to trim it. Now look at it.” 

Every little mouse, with a load of the 
Christmas-tree trimmings all ready to take 
away, turned to give the tree another 
glance. There it stood, stark and stiff and 
green, a ray of moonlight through a chink 
in the shutters playing among its empty 
branches. 


Under the Stable Floor. 8i 

“ The moon is up ! ” said Will ; “ that is 
good. It won’t be quite so hard getting 
through that tough grass just beyond the 
drain, because we shall see more plainly ; ” 
and he led the way with a merry little 
squeak almost like a whistle. 

Reaching Ratcliff’s circular room, they 
dumped their luggage on the ground, and 
were off for another and another load, till 
not even a popcorn was left in the library 
to tell the story of the theft. 

In the mean time Squire and Mrs. Rat 
had commenced trimming their tree. It 
was at once decided she should have the 
ring for her bracelet, while he claimed the 
watch for his use ; but at present they 
hung each in a conspicuous place on the 
tree, where all their guests of next day 
would be able to see but not handle such 
rare treasures. 

“ Now is everything on } ” asked Squire 
Rat, stepping back to view the result of 
their work. 


6 


82 


Under the Stable Floor, 


“Yes,” answered Mrs. Rat, “and it is 
time, for it is two o’clock, and my head 
aches badly, after so much late exercise.” 

“ But the effect it has ! Is n’t it quite 
beautiful ? ” cried the Squire, enthusiasti- 
cally. 

“ Lovely ! ” sung out three little Rats 
who had been watching the trimming from 
the corridor that led to their nursery. 

“ You young Rodents ! ” screamed Squire 
Rat; “just wait till I catch you.” But the 
three little Rats had not the faintest inten- 
tion of waiting ; they scurried off to bed 

giggling- 

“ Put out all the lights, Tim, and see 
that breakfast is served in good time to- 
morrow morning ; there is still much to 
be done for our party,” said Mrs. Rat. 

Tim quickly turned out the lights, and 
soon Ratcliff was as silent as the Range. 


V. 


jj^ONG before the sun thought of such 
a thing as getting up on Christmas 
morning, Blucher and Gertrude were wide 
awake, ah-ing and oh-ing over the contents 
of their stockings, converted for the time 
into bonbonnieres, fruit-receivers, and jew- 
elry cases. 

“ 1 ’m so sorry,” said Gertrude, with a 
sigh, “ that Kriss Kringle forgot my ring. 
This little necklace is awfully sweet, and 
so are this belt-buckle and hat-pin and 
button-hook ; but, oh ! I did so want a 
ring with a little red stone in it, like 
Bertha Herwig’s.” 

“ I ’m awfully disappointed about my 
watch, too,” said Blucher. “ Papa always 
said I was to have one when I was ten 


84 Under the Stable Floor. 

years old, and now I ’m near eleven and I 
have n’t one yet.” 

“ I ’ll tell you,” suggested Gertrude, the 
frown instantly leaving her face. “ You 
know the stockings are from Kriss Kringle, 
aren’t they.^ and papa’s and mamma’s 
presents would be somewhere around the 
tree, like last year ; let ’s go see.” 

“ That ’s so! ” cried Blucher; “ why, of 
course. Come on as fast as you can ; ” and 
in dressing-gowns and soft slippers, the 
children stole downstairs, opening the door 
into the library very gently, so as to dis- 
turb no one. 

“ Here ! wait a minute, Gertie,” whis- 
pered Blucher. “ I ’ll have to open the 
shutters ; it ’s so dark.” 

Gertrude waited on the threshold while 
Blucher folded back the shutters, her 
eyes strained to get the first glimpse of 
the Christmas-tree in the pale morning:- 
light. 


Under the Stable Floor. 85 

“ Now ! ” said Blucher, “ how is that ? ” 

“Oh! My patience 1 Oh! My!” 

“ Great Gulliver ! ” 

Then there was a moment of silent con- 
sternation. 

“ I say ! ” 

“ Jimminy cranks ! ” 

“ Whatever in the world has happened 
to our beautiful tree ? ” said Gertrude. 

“ It ’s robbers ! ” cried Blucher, “ and the 
meanest kind, too ; for they ’ve taken 
every bit of a thing off the tree and left the 
tree. Why did n’t they take the tree too } ” 

“ Oh ! Blucher, don’t — our beautiful, 
lovely tree — don’t speak that way ! ” and 
the tears sprang to Gertrude’s eyes. 

“ I wish I had them here,” cried Blu- 
cher, shaking his fist at the tree. “ I 
would just like to see those robbers trying 
that trick again.” 

“ Let ’s go and tell papa,” said Gertrude, 
rubbing the tears from her cheeks. 


86 Under the Stable Floor. 

“ No; just wait till I look round and see 
if there ’s any clew.” 

“ What ’s a clew ? ” asked Gertrude, 
backing toward the door. 

“Why, don’t you know? It’s a — a — 
a — ” and as he tried to think of just what 
a clew is, he looked under the table and 
bookcases and sofa. 

“ Is it to find a robber ? Oh ! don’t 
find a robber till I get upstairs, Blucher, 
dont!'' and in blind terror Gertrude 
turned to go up the stairs, only to find 
herself in somebody’s strong arms. 

She screamed. 

“Hush! Gertie, don’t you know your 
own father ? What is all this fuss about, 
anyway, at half-past three in the morning, 
when children should be asleep in bed ? ” 
and Mr. Egmont stared into the library, 
where Blucher still peered under table 
and chairs for “ the clew.” 

“ Why — why, papa,” wept Gertrude, 


Under the Stable Floor, 


87 


clinging to her father with a grip like a 
vice, “robbers have been in and stoled 
every single thing off our Christmas-tree.” 

“ Nonsense.” 

“Yes, they have, papa,” said Blucher; 
“ and I can’t find a clew, else I ’d have 
them Vested pretty quick.” 

“ Let me see,” said Mr. Egmont, putting 
down Gertrude and entering the library; 
“ it ’s too dark here to see much anyway ; ” 
and pressing a wall-button, he lighted the 
chandelier. 

“Humph! it is odd about the tree!” 
he said, walking round and round it; “but 
over there is the silver nut-set and cracker- 
jar I intended for your mother, and here 
are the children’s games and books and 
new sleds. It’s strange nothing else was 
touched ; ” and he glanced in at the din- 
ing-room sideboard heavy with plate. “ I 
don’t understand it.” 

“ Shall I call mamma ? ” said Gertrude, 


88 


Under the Stable Floor. 


who was fast getting over her abject 
fright now that her father had come. 

“ Yes, do,” he said. “ Just knock gently ; 
don’t startle her.” 

There was a pleasant little laugh in the 
hall. 

“ I am not asleep,” called Mrs. Egmont ; 
“ what is the matter. ” 

Mr. Egmont and the children pointed 
to the tree. 

''Am I still asleep exclaimed Mrs. 
Egmont. “ I can’t see a thing on it ! ” 

“That’s the trouble,” laughed Mr. Eg- 
mont, in his relief to find no further sign 
of house-thieves. “ Will you please tell us 
where all the things have gone that were 
on this tree last night at eleven o'clock 1 ” 

“ Burglars,” said Mrs. Egmont. 

“ That’s what we said; only not another 
thing has been touched.” 

“ Cats, rats, mice ! ” suggested Mrs. Eg- 
mont. “ They may be the burglars.” 


Under the Stable Floor, 89 

“ Mamma ’s silly, is n’t she, children ? ” 

“ Am I ? I did n’t mean to be ; but I 
hear them every day in the walls, — that is, 
rats and mice. Well, don’t fret, children, 
and we ’ll go out right after breakfast and 
get some more things for the tree ! I ’m 
so glach it ’s no worse.” 

“ It ’s a pity to lose Blucher’s watch and 
Gertrude’s ring,” whispered Mr. Egmont. 

“Yes, it is ; but don’t say anything. It 
shall be made up to them on their birth- 
day. There, they are looking quite con- 
tentedly at their new sleds now.” 

“ What do you think of the runners^ 
chick-a-biddies ? ” asked Mr. Egmont. 

“ Oh ! they ’re A Number One. I won- 
der if it ’s too early to go out now and 
try them,” said Blucher. 

“In dressing-gowns ? ” asked Mrs. Eg- 
mont. 

“ There is to be no going out for four 
hours,” said Mr. Egmont. “ We all need 
another wink of sleep before breakfast.’’ 


90 Under the Stable Floor, 

“Yes, and I want to look at my new 
books and games,” said Gertrude. 

“Very well; bring them up to the 
nursery,” said Mrs. Egmont. “ I don't feel 
safe to leave you down here alone. And 
when you dress, put on your warmest 
things, so that we shall be all ready for our 
shopping right after breakfast. Do you 
know, I have a very good idea for trim- 
ming your tree the second time.f^” 

“ What is it, mamma Tell us.” 

“ After breakfast,” she nodded ; “ now 
up to the nursery with you.” 

It was fortunate the books and games 
were so interesting, for the time to the 
half-past-seven o’clock breakfast would 
otherwise have seemed long to the chil- 
dren, with nothing to entertain them but 
sorrowful thoughts of their poor Christmas- 
tree. 

“ How do you think mamma means to 
trim it ? ” asked Gertrude of Blucher. 


Under the Stable Floor, 91 

“ How should I know ? — only that 
ladies have very nice ways of doing things 
of that kind.” 

“Yes, nicer than robbers,” said Ger- 
trude, sadly. Oh, Bridget,” whom she 
heard going down the back-stairs, “ just go 
see our Christmas-tree in the library.” 

“ I have n’t time this morning ; I ’m 
late.” 

“ Tell Nancy to go, then,” called Blucher. 

Nancy evidently went, for she came up 
to the nursery with staring eyes. 

“ Whativer ’s ’appened it, or is it an- 
other tree altogether } ” she questioned 
anxiously. 

“ No, it ’s the same one, only something 
like burglars came in the night and stoled 
all the things on it,” explained Gertrude. 

“But mamma’s going to trim it some 
other nice way for us,” said Blucher. 

“ Too bay sure, pore darlings, ye desarve 
it;” and Nancy went away shaking her 
head. 


92 Under the Stable Floor, 

“ Let me see,” said Mrs. Egmont, look- 
ing at the invitation list after breakfast. 
“ There are forty children coming to the 
party, and I shall need forty little sou- 
venirs for the Christmas-tree, besides a 
new stock of candles. Do you think, 
papa, we can get into Mack’s General Toy 
and Notion Store } ” 

“ I ’ll arrange that,” he answered. “ Take 
me with you. There is the sleigh now.” 

The family got in, and Mr. Egmont 
ordered the man to drive to the Mack 
residence on Maple Street. 

Getting out there, Mr. Egmont himself 
ran up the front steps and pressed the 
bell. To the servant he handed a few 
pencilled words on a card : — 

Dear Sir, — Can you make it convenient to 
let Mrs. Egmont select an instalment of Christ- 
mas-tree trimmings in your shop this morning } 
Our tree was mysteriously denuded of all dec- 
orations last night. 


B. S. Egmont, 


Under the Stable Floor. 93 

“ Certainly, certainly,” scratched Mr. 
Mack, across the same card. “ Will be 
there to serve her myself in fifteen 
minutes.” 

“ But what of your breakfast ” said 
his wife, glancing at the card. 

“ Never mind that,” he answered, scram- 
bling into his top-coat ; “ it ’ll keep till I 
get back ; ” and he hurried downstairs 
and down the street to his “ Novelty 
Emporium.” 

“ Very curious,” he said, as he unlocked 
the door to his Christmas shoppers, “ that 
your Christmas-tree was plucked in that 
fashion ! How did the children take it } ” 

“ Seriously enough,” answered Mrs. 
Egmont; “but I have a little plan in 
mind that will quite make up their dis- 
appointment to them. We are going to 
have forty little people at our house this 
afternoon, and we will choose forty little 
gifts to be hung on the Christmas-tree for 


94 Under the Stable Floor, 

them, which, with a new set of candles 
and reflectors, will make the tree quite fes- 
tive again. Come, Blucherand Gertrude,” 
she called, “ help me to choose some little 
souvenirs from the assortment Mr. Mack 
is going to show us.” 

The children had been wandering about 
the big, silent shop, looking with interest 
at many things that did not catch their 
attention when it was filled with customers 
on ordinary shopping-days. 

“ How many are we to choose ? ” asked 
Gertrude, running to her mother. 

“ Forty,” she replied. “ Here are doll 
casters, doll umbrellas, doll handkerchief 
and glove sets, and cologne bottles, jewel- 
boxes, pocket-books, pocket-knives, writ- 
ing-paper, and lots and lots of things.” 

In a few moments the children had 
chosen their souvenirs from the great 
variety Mr. Mack laid out for them ; then 
in a big package the gifts were carried to 


Under the Stable Floor, 95 

the sleigh, put under the front seat and 
taken home. 

Now began the busy re-trimming of 
the poor tree. Every article, as it was 
tied in a fancy paper and hung to the tree, 
was numbered plainly by Mrs. Egmont, 
while Blucher and Gertrude wrote corre- 
sponding numbers on blank cards and 
mixed them up in a hat for their little 
guests to draw from just before they left 
in the early evening, every child thus 
drawing a little gift. The appearance 
of the tree was quite unlike its first elab- 
orate array of Christmas finery, but it 
seemed to hold up its branches with fresh 
pride in the fruit they now bore. Indeed, 
it was a question whether the second crop 
did not outshine the first yield ; for over 
all Mrs. Egmont had cast a glimmering 
veil of most delicate gold filigree like a 
gilt-edged mist. 

It was very gay and attractive at Rat- 


g6 Under the Stable Floor. 

cliff this Christmas Day ; the guests had 
all come early, the tree was an object of 
perpetual admiration, and the approaching 
dinner of roast chicken and baked apples 
filled the circular room with an appetizing 
odor. Still little Rat Jasey could not for- 
get the children whose tree had been 
stripped for the one under the stable floor ; 
so he stole quietly away to get a glimpse 
of Blucher and Gertrude in the library. 
From the new hole he would certainly see 
them. 

There was no trouble in getting to the 
new hole, but he had not left home before 
half-past three, and it was almost four 
when he reached the opening in the heart 
of the rose. His astonishment was almost 
unbounded when he saw through it the 
tree, not bare and untrimmed as he had 
expected, but laden with mysterious 
packages, and glittering with threads of 
gold. Around it were gathered a merry 


Under the Stable Floor. 97 

group of children, chattering and talking 
about the strange theft of the night before. 

“ I declare ! ” said Jasey, “ it did n’t take 
so very long to fix up that tree again, and 
there is a party on 1 I ’ll go straight home 
and tell father. Perhaps he would like 
some of those queer packages on the tree 
for our party ; ” so turning about he whisked 
away at his best pace. It did not take 
half an hour for him to reach home. 

“Ah ! here comes Jasey ! ” cried Squire 
Rat, as the little rat bounded in among 
his father’s company like a popcorn from 
a hot griddle. “ Where have you been, 
young man ? Your eyes are as large as 
shoe-buttons. I was just thinking of send- 
ing Tim for you ; dinner is nearly ready.” 

“Papa, do be quiet!” said Mrs. Rat; 
“can’t you see Jasey has something im- 
portant to tell us ” 

“ Why, father!” said Jasey, catching his 

breath, “you know Blucher and Gertrude. 

7 


98 


Under the Stable Floor, 


Well ! their tree is all trimmed over lovely ; 
I went to see.” 

“ Ah ! ” said Squire Rat ; ‘how do the 
things look?” 

“ As if they were awfully nice things, 
father, all tied in pink and silver and gold 
paper. I think you ’d like to have them 
for our party, though some of them are 
pretty big to get through the rose-hole 
and along the new route.” 

“ I am not sure of that,” asserted the 
Squire ; “ that is a very fine, broad passage- 
way in some places. Tim, Will, suppose 
you go and inspect this new state of affairs, 
— the trimmings on the tree, I mean. We 
will have the field-mice to wait on the 
table in your place if you cannot get back 
in time. Be sure to see if the things are 
in our line.” 

“ Very well, sir,” replied Tim and Will, 
glad to get away from the noise and hilar- 
ity of all the Heir of Ratcliff’s relations. 


Under the Stable Floor. 99 

“ Dinner is served,” announced one of 
the field-mice to the Squire’s guests just 
as Nancy called Blucher’s and Gertrude’s 
little friends into the dining-room for their 
refreshments. 

Consequently the library was quite 
em.pty when Tim and Will projected their 
heads through the heart of the rose to 
study the possibility of purloining a few 
more trifles from the Christmas-tree for 
Squire Rat and his guests. 


VI. 


OACHMAN JOHN had been puz- 



zling all day over the mystery of the 
Christmas-tree theft, but could find no ex- 
planation that would unravel it. Sitting 
in the stable next the gas-stove, and wait- 
ing for Mr. Egmont’s order “ to hitch up 
and take such little guests home as had 
no sleigh coming for them,” he had plenty 
of time to think about it. 

“ The master takes things easy,” he was 
saying to himself ; “ now, if it had been 
me, I M have had a police in to see how 
the thing was managed so neat, even if 
it were n’t no great loss.” 

One of the horses lashed his tail against 
the stall, and the other kicked his feet in 
the fresh straw bedding as he munched his 
oats contentedly. It was so still in the 


Under the Stable Floor. 


lOI 


stable that John could hear the children 
playing in the library again, now that their 
refreshments were eaten. 

“ Blind Man’s Buff, or Magic Music, or 
the Virginia Reel, I expect,” thought John, 
as a few strains of music reached him. 
Then he became aware of a sort of counter 
noise somewhere beneath the stable floor. 
Scratcher came prowling in this moment 
also, and, placing her nose to a crack in 
the floor, looked up and mewed. 

“ John, are you there,” called Bridget, 
“ an’ would you mind setting this trap for 
me? Mr. Egmont just saw a mouse run- 
ning off the Christmas-tree. He says he 
never heard of such bowldness.” 

“ Oh ! mice an’ rats is up to everything,” 
said John, handing the trap back to her 
carefully set. 

Scratcher drew her nose again from the 
crack and mewed, while Bridget ran back 
to the Range with the trap. 


102 


Under the Stable Floor, 


The noise that John had first heard 
under the stable floor was repeated, only 
louder and clearer this time ; for the rats, 
about finishing their dinner, were making 
speeches and growing more and more 
hilarious. 

“ I believe you, Scratcher, that is rats!” 
exclaimed John ; “ an’ mor’ ’n a million, I 
should think from the sound. Where on 
earth is my hatchet, till I have up the stable 
floor ” 

One or two sharp whacks of the 
hatchet, whacks that at any other time the 
rats would have noticed, loosened a board ; 
and cautiously, very cautiously, John lifted 
it an inch or so, and looked in. What he 
saw there caused him to drop the board 
softly back into place and run to the 
Range. 

‘‘ Will you tell Mr. Egmont I wish to 
speak to him a moment he said to 
Bridget. 


Under the Stable Floor, 103 

“ Sure, an’ I will, then ; but what ’s 
’appened ? You look excited loike ! ” 

“ It ’s a picnic I ’ll soon be showing you 
all ; hurry up, plaise ! ” 

Bridget disappeared, and very soon re- 
turned with the master. 

“ Anything wrong at the stable, John.^^ ” 
he asked in alarm. 

“ No, sir, no ; but if you ’d be bringing the 
children and their party to the stable, I ’d 
like to be showing you and thim some- 
thing that’s not often seen.” 

“ What ’s that } ” asked Mr. Egmont, 
much relieved, though greatly mystified. 

“ A rat’s Christmas-tree, sir, an’ the party 
as goes with it, sir.” 

Mr. Egmont laughed. 

“ All right, we ’ll be there in a moment ; ” 
and he went back to the library to deliver 
John’s strange invitation. 

“ Oh, what fun ! ” cried the children all ; 
let ’s go right away.” 


104 Under the Stable Floor, 

“Yes, right away,” said Mr. Egmont. 
“ for I fancy it ’s a thing that won’t keep 
long ; ” and he led the way to the stable. 

“ Look out for dancing-boots and the 
snow,” he said, “ though it is n’t far.” 

“ An’ I spread a strip of carpet, sir,” 
said Nancy, bringing up the rear. 

“You are more thoughtful than I,” said 
Mrs. Egmont; “and there is Bridget lock- 
ing up the house so carefully. Never 
mind, Bridget ; we shall soon be back.” 

“ But something may ’appen the Christ- 
mas-tree again, ma’am,” replied Bridget, 
coming, too, with the keys in her pocket. 

“ Now be quiet, plaise, an’ stand back 
here, either side of this board,” said John, 
“and don’t be minding nor screaming if 
Mr. Boggs’s tarrier and the cat goes jump- 
ing down below the moment I moves the 
board, sir.” 

“ All right,” said Mr. Egmont ; “ I ’ll 
promise not to scream. 


Under the Stable Floor. 105 

They all smothered a quick laugh, — all 
but Gertrude. With a frightened little 
face, she stole round to her father’s side 
and put her hand in his. 

“We’re ready, John. One, two, three, 
— what do we see ? ” said Mr. Egmont. 

There was a smooth raising of the 
board, a sharp bark of Mr. Boggs’s terrier, 
a plunge of the cat, a flurried, hurried 
scurry of fifty rats in fifty directions, and 
then a breathless silence as forty-seven 
people craned their necks over the long, 
narrow opening into Squire Rat’s circular 
room, and saw a beautiful, lighted Christ- 
mas-tree there ! 

“Of all wonders!” exclaimed Mrs. Eg- 
mont 

“ May the faith of our fathers defind 
us 1 ” cried Bridget 

“ Patience ! Goodness I Is n’t it queer ” 
ejaculated the children. 

“I see somebody’s watch!” said Mr. 


io6 


Under the Stable Floor. 


Egmont, jumping down into the hole with 
no thought that he was in a dress-suit. 

“ And oh, papa,” said Gertrude, “ I do 
believe I see a ring with a red stone in it 
on that branch up there ; won’t you get it 
for me ? ” 

“Sure, an’ rats bite, sir; don’t go so 
near, if you plaise, sir,” screamed Nancy. 

“ Wait, an’ I ’ll be there, too, sir,” said 
John, springing in. “ We ’ll have a moving 
of the tree ; ” and taking it in his strong 
arm, he lifted it from the pile of stones, 
up, up, through the hole in the floor to 
the stable. 

‘ Do come, papa,” called Mrs. Egmont ; 
“ they might bite you, you know.” 

“ There ’s not a rat here that I can see,” 
answered Mr. Egmont; “ only a half-dozen 
or so of poor, half-starved little mice eat- 
ing up the remains of one of our best im- 
ported gorgonzola cheeses.” 

“ Set Scratcher on them,” cried Mrs. 
Egmont. 


Under the Stable Floor. 107 

“Oh, Scratcher has something! it’s — 
ah — it ’s some roast-chicken bones.” 

“ And the terrier I What is he munch- 
ing at such a rate ? ” 

“ Nothing but chicken-bones, too, I 
declare. Neither of them caught a thing. 
I guess I had better come up ; ” and plac- 
ing his hands on the edge of the opening^ 
Mr. Egmont drew himself up through the 
floor to the stable proper again. 

“It was n’t such a very horrid place, 
was it ? ” asked Mrs. Egmont, as she 
dusted off her husband’s elbows. 

“ No, barring the fresh eatables that 
were strewed around, it was quite tidy. 
John, fill the place up with ashes to-mor- 
row. In the spring I ’ll have it filled in 
with solid stone-work. 

“ Yes, sir, that I will; an' to think of the 
cat an’ the dog not catching a one,” mum- 
bled John. 

“ Never mind, we have the tree and the 


io8 Under the Stable Floor, 

watch,” — here Mr. Egmont handed the 
watch to Blucher ; it was still going, and 
marked eight o’clock, — “ and the ring.” 
This he put on Gertrude’s finger. “ Now 
ought n’t we to be perfectly happy } ” and, 
taking the tree from John, he stood it in 
the corner of the stable. “ That is yours, 
John, or the little Johns’ at home if they 
want it.” 

“ Thank you, sir,” answered John, touch- 
ing his hat, as he turned on all the stable- 
lights so that his visitors could see to get 
back to the Range again. 


And the Rats! — Of course, there were 
those four corridors through which they 
could very rapidly disappear, if compelled 
to do so. The forty invited guests came 
together when the alarm was over, and 
held a caucus in an empty chicken-coop 
back of the stable. 

“ It certainly was very kind of our dis- 


Under the Stable Floor. 109 

tinguished relative, the Heir of Ratcliff, 
to entertain us so handsomely on Christ- 
mas Day ; but it was just as mean of him 
to keep us in such total ignorance of the 
danger which lurked over our heads.” 

“ But you must know,” said another, 
who was Squire Rat’s great-aunt, “ that 
since my time and for many a day be- 
fore that, that circular room has been 
there, and has never once been disturbed 
by friend or foe. It is my opinion that 
if Ratcliff had been less overreaching, and 
contented himself, as his ancestors did, 
with simple pick-ups here and there, and 
no fol-de-rols of Christmas-trees, this never 
would have happened;” and the old aunt re- 
tired, calling her grandson to lead her home. 

“ We ought to be thankful we got off 
so safely ; though, to tell the truth, I never 
am greatly afraid of Boggs’s terrier. It 
stirs up a great deal of dust, but it never 
catches anything,” said a third. 


I lO 


Under the Stable Floor, 


“ How about the cat? ” asked a younger 
Rat, rubbing his fur as if she had been 
combing it with her claws. 

“ Cats like that old Scratch are too lazy 
to do much harm. We ’re a little too 
quick for most cats.” 

“ Yes, we are,” assented a very young 
Rat, turning a somersault as he spoke. 

“ Well, certainly there is one thing we 
must all do,” suggested a gray and rather 
stately old Rat, “ we must bid the Squire 
good-night with as good a grace as can 
be mustered. It is early yet, but it will 
take those of us who have the farthest to 
go till midnight to get home.” 

“ Yes,” rambled Mrs. Rat, in a weak, faint 
voice, as she came among them. “We 
had dinner early on purpose, knowing 
you would want to get home in good 
time, even if you did have far to go, and 
would have to leave early.” 

“ We are delighted to see you are tak- 


Under the Stable Floor, 


III 


ing your alarm so pleasantly, Mrs. Rat,” 
said a Harlem Rat who was only visiting 
the region for a few days ; “ your nerves 
seem quite sound.” 

“ Oh, yes, they are,” she said, “ now 
that I know that the Squire and children 
are all safe. This reminds me, he asked 
me to say good-night for him, as he will 
not come out again this evening.” 

“ Does he think of giving up his place 
here ” asked some one. 

“ No, by no means ; he will never sur- 
render his patrimony. But Tim, one of 
our trusty servants, heard Mr. Egmont 
order the circular room filled in with 
ashes,” — and here Mrs. Rat really wept 
sincere tears ; “ in that case we shall be- 
gin excavations for a round room at the 
right of us, under that hen-house you see 
there, and try to make it as pleasant a 
spot as the other.” 

“ How^ lovely you are about it, Mrs. 


I 12 


Under the Stable Floor. 


Rat ! I really did not know you had so 
much stability of character,” commented 
a rat recently from Boston. 

“ Stability ? ” she said quite coquettishly ; 
“ it certainly can’t be that, when I ’m so 
willing to leave the stable.” 

“ Mamma, father wants you,” said Rath- 
bun, coming to her at this moment. 

“Yes, yes, I am coming, Rathbun ; you 
and Jasey see our guests away ! ” 

Roda sat in the corner weeping bitterly. 

“ Are you crying because the friends 
are going ” asked the gray and rather 
stately old Rat. 

“ No,” replied Roda ; “ but because the 
Christmas-tree is gone, and we did n’t get 
one single thing off of it.” 

“ Here is a peppermint for you,” said 
the old Rat, turning slowly away. 


THE END. 


Under the Stable Floor. 97 

group of children, chattering and talking 
about the strange theft of the night before. 

“ I declare ! ” said Jasey, “ it did n’t take 
so very long to fix up that tree again, and 
there is a party on ! I ’ll go straight home 
and tell father. Perhaps he would like 
some of those queer packages on the tree 
for our party ; ” so turning about he whisked 
away at his best pace. It did not take 
half an hour for him to reach home. 

“Ah! here comes Jasey!” cried Squire 
Rat, as the little rat bounded in among 
his father’s company like a popcorn from 
a hot griddle. “ Where have you been, 
young man } Your eyes are as large as 
shoe-buttons. I was just thinking of send- 
ing Tim for you ; dinner is nearly ready.” 

“Papa, do be quiet!” said Mrs. Rat; 
“can’t you see Jasey has something im- 
portant to tell us } ” 

“ Why, father!” said Jasey, catching his 

breath, “ you know Blucher and Gertrude. 

7 


98 Under the Stable Floor, 

Well ! their tree is all trimmed over lovely ; 
I went to see.” 

“ Ah ! ” said Squire Rat ; ‘how do the 
things look.f^” 

“ As if they were awfully nice things, 
father, all tied in pink and silver and gold 
paper. I think you ’d like to have them 
for our party, though some of them are 
pretty big to get through the rose-hole 
and along the new route.” 

* “ I am not sure of that,” asserted the 
Squire ; “ that is a very fine, broad passage- 
way in some places. Tim, Will, suppose 
you go and inspect this new state of affairs, 
— the trimmings on the tree, I mean. We 
will have the field-mice to wait on the 
table in your place if you cannot get back 
in time. Be sure to see if the things are 
in our line.” 

“ Very well, sir,” replied Tim and Will, 
glad to get away from the noise and hilar- 
ity of all the Heir of Ratcliff’s relations. 


Under the Stable Floor. 99 

“ Dinner is served,” announced one of 
the field-mice to the Squires guests just 
as Nancy called Bluchers and Gertrude’s 
little friends into the dining-room for their 
refreshments. 

Consequently the library was quite 
em.pty when Tim and Will projected their 
heads through the heart of the rose to 
study the possibility of purloining a few 
more trifles from the Christmas-tree for 
Squire Rat and his guests. 


VI. 


QOACHMAN JOHN had been puz- 
zling all day over the mystery of the 
Christmas-tree theft, but could find no ex- 
planation that would unravel it. Sitting 
in the stable next the gas-stove, and wait- 
ing for Mr. Egmont’s order “ to hitch up 
and take such little guests home as had 
no sleigh coming for them,” he had plenty 
of time to think about it. 

“ The master takes things easy,” he was 
saying to himself ; “ now, if it had been 
me, I ’d have had a police in to see how 
the thing was managed so neat, even if 
it were n’t no great loss.” 

One of the horses lashed his tail against 
the stall, and the other kicked his feet in 
the fresh straw bedding as he munched his 
oats contentedly. It was so still in the 


Under the Stable Floor. 


lOI 


stable that John could hear the children 
playing in the library again, now that their 
refreshments were eaten. 

“ Blind Man’s Buff, or Magic Music, or 
the Virginia Reel, I expect,” thought John, 
as a few strains of music reached him. 
Then he became aware of a sort of counter 
noise somewhere beneath the stable floor. 
Scratcher came prowling in this moment 
also, and, placing her nose to a crack in 
the floor, looked up and mewed. 

“ John, are you there,” called Bridget, 
“ an’ would you mind setting this trap for 
me 1 Mr. Egmont just saw a mouse run- 
ning off the Christmas-tree. He says he 
never heard of such bowldness.” 

“ Oh! mice an’ rats is up to everything,” 
said John, handing the trap back to her 
carefully set. 

Scratcher drew her nose again from the 
crack and mewed, while Bridget ran back 
to the Range with the trap. 


102 


Under the Stable Floor. 


The noise that John had first heard 
under the stable floor was repeated, only 
louder and clearer this time ; for the rats, 
about finishing their dinner, were making 
speeches and growing more and more 
hilarious. 

“ I believe you, Scratcher, that is rats!” 
exclaimed John ; “ an’ mor’ ’n a million, I 
should think from the sound. Where on 
earth is my hatchet, till I have up the stable 
floor 

One or two sharp whacks of the 
hatchet, whacks that at any other time the 
rats would have noticed, loosened a board ; 
and cautiously, very cautiously, John lifted 
it an inch or so, and looked in. What he 
saw there caused him to drop the board 
softly back into place and run to the 
Range. 

‘‘ Will you tell Mr. Egmont I wish to 
speak to him a moment ? ” he said to 
Bridget. 


Urider the Stable Floor, 103 

“ Sure, an’ I will, then ; but what ’s 
’appened ? You look excited loike ! ” 

“ It ’s a picnic I ’ll soon be showing you 
all ; hurry up, plaise ! ” 

Bridget disappeared, and very soon re- 
turned with the master. 

“ Anything wrong at the stable, John.^ ” 
he asked in alarm. 

“ No, sir, no ; but if you ’d be bringing the 
children and their party to the stable, I ’d 
like to be showing you and thim some- 
thing that’s not often seen.” 

What ’s that ? ” asked Mr. Egmont, 
much relieved, though greatly mystified. 

“ A rat’s Christmas-tree, sir, an’ the party 
as goes with it, sir.” 

Mr. Egmont laughed. 

“ All right, we ’ll be there in a moment ; ” 
and he went back to the library to deliver 
John’s strange invitation. 

“ Oh, what fun ! ” cried the children all ; 
let ’s go right away.” 


104 Under the Stable Floor, 

“Yes, right away,” said Mr. Egmont. 
“ for I fancy it ’s a thing that won’t keep 
long ; ” and he led the way to the stable. 

“ Look out for dancing-boots and the 
snow,” he said, “ though it is n’t far.” 

“ An’ I spread a strip of carpet, sir,” 
said Nancy, bringing up the rear. 

“You are niore thoughtful than I,” said 
Mrs. Egmont; “and there is Bridget lock- 
ing up the house so carefully. Never 
mind, Bridget ; we shall soon be back.” 

“ But something may ’appen the Christ- 
mas-tree again, ma’am,” replied Bridget, 
coming, too, with the keys in her pocket. 

“ Now be quiet, plaise, an’ stand back 
here, either side of this board,” said John, 
“ and don’t be minding nor screaming if 
Mr. Boggs’s tarrier and the cat goes jump- 
ing down below the moment I moves the 
board, sir.” 

“ All right,” said Mr. Egmont ; “ I ’ll 
promise not to scream. 


Under the Stable Floor. 105 

They all smothered a quick laugh, — all 
but Gertrude. With a frightened little 
face, she stole round to her father’s side 
and put her hand in his. 

“We’re ready, John. One, two, three, 
— what do we see } ” said Mr. Egmont. 

There was a smooth raising of the 
board, a sharp bark of Mr. Boggs’s terrier, 
a plunge of the cat, a flurried, hurried 
scurry of fifty rats in fifty directions, and 
then a breathless silence as forty-seven 
people craned their necks over the long, 
narrow opening into Squire Rat’s circular 
room, and saw a beautiful, lighted Christ- 
mas-tree there ! 

“Of all wonders!” exclaimed Mrs. Eg- 
mont. 

“ May the faith of our fathers defind 
us I ” cried Bridget. 

“ Patience I Goodness I Is n’t it queer? ” 
ejaculated the children. 

“I see somebody’s watch!” said Mr. 


io6 


Under the Stable Floor. 


Egmont, jumping down into the hole with 
no thought that he was in a dress-suit. 

“ And oh, papa,” said Gertrude, “ I do 
believe I see a ring with a red stone in it 
on that branch up there ; won’t you get it 
for me } ” 

“Sure, an’ rats bite, sir; don’t go so 
near, if you plaise, sir,” screamed Nancy. 

“Wait, an’ I’ll be there, too, sir,” said 
John, springing in. “ We ’ll have a moving 
of the tree ; ” and taking it in his strong 
arm, he lifted it from the pile of stones, 
up, up, through the hole in the floor to 
the stable. 

‘ Do come, papa,” called Mrs. Egmont ; 
“ they might bite you, you know.” 

“ There ’s not a rat here that I can see,” 
answered Mr. Egmont; “ only a half-dozen 
or so of poor, half-starved little mice eat- 
ing up the remains of one of our best im- 
ported gorgonzola cheeses.” 

“ Set Scratcher on them,” cried Mrs. 
Egmont. 


Under the Stable Floor, 107 

“Oh, Scratcher has something! it’s — 
ah — it ’s some roast-chicken bones.” 

“ And the terrier I What is he munch- 
ing at such a rate } ” 

“ Nothing but chicken-bones, too, I 
declare. Neither of them caught a thing. 
I guess I had better come up ; ” and plac- 
ing his hands on the edge of the opening^ 
Mr. Egmont drew himself up through the 
floor to the stable proper again. 

“It was n’t such a very horrid place, 
was it ? ” asked Mrs. Egmont, as she 
dusted off her husband’s elbows. 

“ No, barring the fresh eatables that 
were strewed around, it was quite tidy. 
John, fill the place up with ashes to-mor- 
row. In the spring I ’ll have it filled in 
with solid stone-work. 

“ Yes, sir, that I will; an' to think of the 
cat an’ the dog not catching a one,” mum- 
bled John. 

“ Never mind, we have the tree and the 


io8 Under the Stable Floor, 

watch/’ — here Mr. Egmont handed the 
watch to Blucher ; it was still going, and 
marked eight o’clock, — “ and the ring.” 
This he put on Gertrude’s finger. “ Now 
ought n’t we to be perfectly happy } ” and, 
taking the tree from John, he stood it in 
the corner of the stable. “ That is yours, 
John, or the little Johns’ at home if they 
want it.” 

“ Thank you, sir,” answered John, touch- 
ing his hat, as he turned on all the stable- 
lights so that his visitors could see to get 
back to the Range again. 


And the Rats! — Of course, there were 
those four corridors through which they 
could very rapidly disappear, if compelled 
to do so. The forty invited guests came 
together when the alarm was over, and 
held a caucus in an empty chicken-coop 
back of the stable. 

“ It certainly was very kind of our dis- 


Ufider the Stable Floor. 109 

tinguished relative, the Heir of Ratcliff, 
to entertain us so handsomely on Christ- 
mas Day ; but it was just as mean of him 
to keep us in such total ignorance of the 
danger which lurked over our heads.” 

“ But you must know,” said another, 
who was Squire Rat’s great-aunt, “ that 
since my time and for many a day be- 
fore that, that circular room has been 
there, and has never once been disturbed 
by friend or foe. It is my opinion that 
if Ratcliff had been less overreaching, and 
contented himself, as his ancestors did, 
with simple pick-ups here and there, and 
no fol-de-rols of Christmas-trees, this never 
would have happened;” and the old aunt re- 
tired, calling her grandson to lead her home. 

“We ought to be thankful we got off 
so safely ; though, to tell the truth, I never 
am greatly afraid of Boggs’s terrier. It 
stirs up a great deal of dust, but it never 
catches anything,” said a third. 


I lO 


Under the' Stable Floor. 


“ How about the cat? ’’ asked a younger 
Rat, rubbing his fur as if she had been 
combing it with her claws. 

“ Cats like that old Scratch are too lazy 
to do much harm. We ’re a little too 
quick for most cats.” 

“ Yes, we are,” assented a very young 
Rat, turning a somersault as he spoke. 

“ Well, certainly there is one thing we 
must all do,” suggested a gray and rather 
stately old Rat, “ we must bid the Squire 
good-night with as good a grace as can 
be mustered. It is early yet, but it will 
take those of us who have the farthest to 
go till midnight to get home.” 

“ Yes,” rambled Mrs. Rat, in a weak, faint 
voice, as she came among them. “We 
had dinner early on purpose, knowing 
you would want to get home in good 
time, even if you did have far to go, and 
would have to leave early.” 

“ We are delighted to see you are tak- 


Under the Stable Floor. 


Ill 


ing your alarm so pleasantly, Mrs. Rat,” 
said a Harlem Rat who was only visiting 
the region for a few days ; “ your nerves 
seem quite sound.” 

“ Oh, yes, they are,” she said, “ now 
that I knaw that the Squire and children 
are all safe. This reminds me, he asked 
me to say good-night for him, as he will 
not come out again this evening.” 

“ Does he think of giving up his place 
here "I ” asked some one. 

“ No, by no means ; he will never sur- 
render his patrimony. But Tim, one of 
our trusty servants, heard Mr. Egmont 
order the circular room filled in with 
ashes,” — and here Mrs. Rat really wept 
sincere tears ; “ in that case we shall be- 
gin excavations for a round room at the 
right of us, under that hen-house you see 
there, and try to make it as pleasant a 
spot as the other.” 

“ How^ lovely you are about it, Mrs. 


I 12 


Under the Stable Floor- 


Rat ! I really did not know you had so 
much stability of character,” commented 
a rat recently from Boston. 

“ Stability ? ” she said quite coquettishly ; 
“ it certainly can’t be that, when I 'm so 
willing to leave the stable.” 

“ Mamma, father wants you,” said Rath- 
bun, coming to her at this moment. 

“Yes, yes, I am coming, Rathbun ; you 
and Jasey see our guests away!” 

Roda sat in the corner weeping bitterly. 

“ Are you crying because the friends 
are going ? ” asked the gray and rather 
stately old Rat. 

“ No,” replied Roda ; “ but because the 
Christmas-tree is gone, and we did n’t get 
one single thing off of it.” 

“ Here is a peppermint for you,” said 
the old Rat, turning slowly away. 


THE END. 


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